Young Love
by LoZmercenary002
Summary: As the band of mercenaries work on their new assignment, the love of the two youngest blooms more than they thought it would as they attempt to hide it from their ever watchful leader. (This story follows along with the original storyline).
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I – Z**

I ran upstairs into the room of the tavern that we were staying at. I had just finished beating Syrenne in a gambling game. I've told her so many times to stop gambling when she's drunk, which seems to be all the time, so we played a little trick on her. Lowell and I told her that she was going to win but came out and sucker punched her in the end (metaphorically). Now she's pissed and drunk and a female….

I busted open the door then closed and locked it quickly. I leaned against the door to catch my breath.

"What's going on?" Yurick sat up on his bed. _I didn't know he was in here_. I laughed.

The door pounded three times, shaking me with each hit. "Zael!" it was Syrenne," Get your cowardly ass out here so I can beat it!" That didn't seem like a smart idea.

"We played a trick on her. She's not too happy." I told him in response to his question. I smiled childishly.

He sighed. "You're dead, you know that, right?" he crossed his ankles and leaned back on his hands, "Once she gets a hold of you two," he added. We had messed with her so many times I was surprised we weren't dead already.

The banging stopped. "Shut up, Dagran! You stay out of this!" Great. Now she was taking it out on my brother. I put my ear to the wall to hear the one sided conversation.

"Syrenne, you're drunk." _Wow, Dagran, that's not a very compelling argument._

"I don't get drunk! I get pissed! And I'm pretty ticked off right now!" She was feisty tonight.

I backed off the door and sat on my bed across from Yurick's. Both of us erupted into a laugh that only the two of us had ever seen. He usually never even smiled in front of the others. He rolled his eyes. "I swear there is something wrong with you." He stopped laughing, but held his smile. He was adorable when he smiled.

Yurick was a cute kid. I say 'kid' because I am a good three years older than he is. He's barely 17. His hair was a beautiful white that was absolutely natural. It was soft and well kept. The only thing about his appearance that confused me was that if you didn't see his abs, half the time, you would think he was a girl. His face was rounded and small. If you put him in a group of guys he looked like a girl, but if you put him into a group of girls he was too much of a guy. Very misleading sometimes.

I stared at him softly, enjoying the warmth of his smile. But the warmth was broken as the door swung open. His smile disappeared. Syrenne stormed into the room angrily, fire in her eyes, as it were. "You little shit! I'm gonna kick your-," she stopped and stared at me then at Yurick and back. Her face became lighter and all she said was, "Oh. Never mind then." And she turned to leave, closing the door behind her.

"What the hell was that about?" Yurick did not smile again. I was hoping he would have.

"I don't know. She's drunk." I responded.

"She's always drunk so we should know her by now. However, she is just far too confusing." He sat up and started picking at his nails. I knew he was thinking something out. He does that when he's running situations through his head. He was so secretive though. I didn't know what to think. He never even shared his favorite colour with us, even though it's obviously blue because he wears it all the time.

I stood and walked over to his bed, taking a place by his feet. "You should smile more. You are always so serious."

He laid back down and folded his arms behind his head. "What's the point? There isn't much worth smiling for."

"Well," I narrowed my eyes at him, "I'm here."

He rolled his eye, "That's not much either," He teased.

I frowned, leaning forward just a bit. I put my index fingers to the edges of his mouth and pushed them up towards his eyes….. his baby blue diamond beauties.

"Get the hell off of me!" he smirked. "You're and idiot, you know."

"But you smiled," I gave a thumbs up. "Mission accomplished."

"Why are you like that?" He sat up again. "You're so… so…." He was looking for a word.

"Annoying?" I suggested.

"No. Well, yes, but no." He sat up straight and put his hands in his lap. "So damn cute." The next thing I knew I was lip locked with him, his hands caressing my lower jaw. I wrapped my arms around him lightly. Then we both pulled away slowly.

"I don't understand you," I said. "You act all emotionless and yet you are so gentle and passionate. You call me an idiot, but then you kiss me and call me cute. What's with that?"

He was silent for a minute. His hands dropped to mine and intertwined with them. He sighed, "I don't like people seeing me. It's weird. I don't even know why I let you, but for some reason my mind tells me to show you, so I do." He looked down and folded his legs to cross.

I put my hand lightly on his cheek. "Maybe your mind knows I love you." He responded with a 'maybe' which, to be honest, wasn't good enough. I put my forehead on his. "Well, just for reassurance, I love you, Yurick."

He pecked my lips and leaned into my chest. "I love you, too, Zael." I ran my fingers through his shoulder length hair and slowly undid the braids that held it out of his face. We kissed again and again, laying down flat on his temporary bed. Our legs both straightened out and our ankles twisted together. We kissed tenderly, not lustfully, and let our bodies mold together.

I heard stomps of footsteps coming up the stairs. He pushed me off of the bed and onto the floor then got under the covers. "Go back to your own bed!" he whispered quickly. "It's Dagran!"

I jumped softly to my own bed and pulled the blanket over most of my body. The steps came to the door and it swung open. I closed my eyes, faking sleep. Thank Gods Yurick can sense people.

"We'll need to be awake at sunrise for our assignment tomorrow. You'd better get some-," he stopped and said the last part quietly, "sleep." He walked over to his bed. I relaxed and soon I was asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Y**

I was sure that Dagran would see us. I'm glad Zael moves fast, though I didn't really mean to push him to the floor. I closed my eyes as he walked into the room, saying something about being up at sunrise for our mission. We're mercenaries so we get paid to go on random or sometimes ridiculous 'quests', but instead of us going out for a nice lunch or actually getting new gear, all of our cash gets spent on Syrenne and Lowell's alcoholism…

I didn't fall asleep until probably an hour or two later. By then Zael and Dagran were both sound asleep. However, it seemed that shortly after falling asleep, I was woken by a hand shaking my bed.

"Yurick, get up. It's time to go." Lowell was standing above me. I rubbed my eyes and sat up. Most of my hair fell in my face. Last night Zael had undone my braids. It felt good when he did it, but I hated my hair in my face. I was thinking of cutting it, but then I see Dagran's hair and I think otherwise. I would look terrible with that hair.

I pulled my hair back and redid the braid as I looked around, noticing no-one else in the room. I stood and pulled on my boots, then followed Lowell out of the room and down the stairs. We didn't even have time for breakfast because Dagran was practically pushing us out of the door. Zael was walking next to me for a while, smiling one of his 'this is a great day' smiles. I thought it was cute but didn't show it. It would blow my cover if I showed any emotion in front of the others. I don't even know how Zael unveiled me, or when for that matter, but he did and now I didn't have a problem with it, but only him.

"Zael, may I speak with you?" Dagran stopped ahead of us and Zael fell back with him to chat. Of what I had no idea. I kept walking as if I didn't care, but to be honest, I was really curious. Eventually Dagran ran back up to the front of our group. I didn't see Zael with him. I turned to see him stopped a little down the hill from me. I was going to go see what was going on, but Mirania beat me to it. I walked forward reluctantly.

When we reached the castle, we were informed that we were here as guards for the Lady Calista that was to be engaged today. This was probably the second most important job we've ever been assigned to. Not the most fun nor exciting, but important. I shrugged and walked to my given position when ordered. Zael was stationed on the other side where I could barely see him. This usually happened. We were usually separated on duty. I think Dagran knew about us and that's probably why.

Nothing exciting happened at all until an announcement was made to the room that Lady Calista was entering the room. I didn't even get remotely uplifted as she walked into the room until a rush of confusion ran over me. _Is that Lisa? No it couldn't be._ I squinted my eyes to see her a little better. O_h wow_. It was her. _That's crazy_. I shrugged, not all that surprised by it, and leaned back against the wall. I returned to being all together uninterested, but then I saw Zael staring up at her. What the hell? He looked really confused and happy. I say again, what the hell.

I was on my way downstairs to find him when he first brought her back to the tavern. Syrenne and Lowell started making all kinds of tosses at him bringing a girl back, but I wasn't as proud. In fact, I was pretty pissed. That stupid girl didn't even know she needed money to buy herself a drink. I sat in the room for the rest of the night wanting to stab myself in the ears so I wouldn't have to hear Lowell and Zael going on about her 'good looks'. If you ask me, she looks like every other average girl, only ignorant in their ways.

A frown of jealousy spread over my face. _No. I will not be jealous of her. She's not his type. _I remembered how he looked at her when we first met her; white hair, blue eyes, great smile. She _was_ his type and I was jealous. _Don't show that, Yurick_. My jealousy usually makes me pretty ugly. I used to be jealous of Dagran for being close to him, but that was very irrational because they're brothers. Well not really, sort of adopted brothers, but still.

I let it roll off for the most part. She stood next to her fiancé for a while then started to walk away. Lord what's-his-face wasn't too happy about it but she left anyway. She walked out to the balcony and, to my dismay, Zael followed her._ GOD DAMN IT!_ I cringed out of my new hatred for her. They were out there for a good ten minutes. _What are they doing out there?_

The building shook. "What the-," I muttered as I lost my balance. Then Gurak minions came raging into the room. "No! Seriously?" I half whined. I was glad no-one heard that.

"Yurick, Mirania, Lowell, you know what to do!" Dagran yelled. The three of us are mages. Zael, Dagran, and Syrenne are all physical fighters, Zael and Syrenne being duel weapon masters. I took my orders and began casting my flames around in a circle. Strangely, in battle when I cast I levitate, as where otherwise I just sit there. I never figured out why that is.

Between casting and the occasional stabbing with my dagger, I was distracted by Zael running in from the balcony. A sword hit my leg, thank god I was wearing armour, and sent me crashing to the ground. I stood and chased after the bastard who hit me. After I killed him, I ran back into the main room, seeing Zael fighting a really big Gurak. I presumed he was the king. I started to run in to help him, but stopped when I saw Lisa, Calista… whatever, getting her ass saved by him. I don't know why I stopped. In hind sight, I shouldn't have. He looked at me and called for my help but I didn't move. Subconsciously, I wanted her dead. I shook myself out of it and started towards them, but it was too late. The king had taken Calista and Zael was unconscious on the floor. _Shit! What is wrong with me?_ I ran towards him and knelt down to him. I shook him a bit. "Zael? Wake up." I ran out of the room to get Mirania and ran into Dagran. I told him what happened and we both rushed back to Zael.

"He's alive, but knocked out." I said.

"Why didn't you help them if you saw this?" was the first thing he said.

I didn't even really know myself so I kind of lied. "It takes a while for me to cast a circle, Dagran. And I'm not a good hand to hand fighter. I would have been knocked on my ass, too, if not killed." It sounded so careless. I hadn't done anything. I just stood there and I was regretting it more every second. Zael gasped loudly and blinked a lot.

"Oh, Zael, thank god." Dagran hugged him. I had never seen that before. Dagran has feelings…. Wow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Z**

I found myself in the main room of the castle. I had little memory of what had happened, but, when I saw Yurick's face, everything flooded back. I sat up quickly. "Lisa! She was taken!" I shouted. Dagran and Yurick both jumped.

"We know, but now we have to find her. That's why we're here anyway." He glared at Yurick. "To protect her." He added, as if that statement could have meant something else.

I was upset with him, too. He just stood there as I got my ass kicked. _Seriously?_ I stood up with my brother's help. "We have to go now. I think I know where they're headed."

"Lead the way." Dagran gestured towards the center of the main room. I couldn't run so I tried to walk as fast as I could.

"The docks. Lisa and I saw the ships when the air raid started," I explained. Dagran ran ahead of me towards the east gate. Mirania saw him and sprinted to catch up. I turned to Yurick. "What happened?" he didn't say anything. He just looked down at his feet. "You realize that I could have been killed? Lisa got kidnapped. Why didn't you do anything but freeze?" I was irritated and it sounded in my voice. Though how could I not be? I just finished having a conversation with Dagran on how our relationship was ruining our work. I was irritated at him for potentially being right, at Yurick for not doing anything, and at myself for getting irritated.

"SHUT UP!" I jumped at his raspy tone. I had never heard him actually yell before. He turned and ran out of the main room in the opposite direction. As much as I wanted to chase after him, I needed to catch up to the others so we could save Lisa. I had enough energy by then to jog to the east gate in time to join a brawl between my friends and the Gurak minions. The winners would be the ones to open the gate.

We won… obviously. Dagran ordered Lowell and Syrenne to stay here and 'hold the fort' so to speak. Mirania went off to search for Yurick. Dagran and I ran out to the docks to find Lisa with the king. We charged at him and even tried to strategize, but in the end we lost everything we tried and he left after setting the area on fire. Great, right? Why, I have no idea, but he left Lisa with us…. Then set the docks on fire, too… We were surrounded on land by the flames and they were getting closer.

"We're going to have to jump!" my brother and I said simultaneously. We nodded at each other, grabbed Lisa, and jumped into the water. After catching our breath, we found each other then climbed onto one of the Gurak ships. Dagran then had a (sarcastically) wonderful idea that we would take over the ship…. A ship filled with a hundred Gurak soldiers or more. Verses the two and a half of us, since the only thing she can really do is heal. But we did as we were told.

I snuck around the ship and began taking out single guards and releasing human prisoners. I turned one corner and found Mirania. "Oh my god. What happened?"

"We were attacked and somehow we were captured." She said in her timid voice. The convenient fact that we ended up crawling onto the ship that just so happened to have our captured companions didn't bother me at all. There are certain things I just don't question anymore.

"We? So Yurick is here, too?" She nodded. _Shit._ _Where the hell is he? _I was so worried that I guess I started twitching a little. Mirania had to try to calm me down, but I wouldn't until we found him. We wondered the area of the hold and turned a few corners. We found another few prisoners then we found him across the way. "Yurick!" I ran over and unlatched his cell.

"It's about fucking time you got here." He sounded cold, but it didn't stop me from doing what I did. I launched over to him, held his head tilted towards mine, and kissed him straight on the lips. He obviously didn't mind because his hands found their way to my waist and he pulled himself into it, but he is shorter than I am so to do that he had to stand on his tip toes. Mirania giggled.

Finally we broke away, though, I still held him close. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you upset. I've been worried sick since then." I put my chin on his forehead and kissed his hair.

He tightened his grip, grabbing my jacket. "No, I'm sorry. I should have helped you. I was Jealous. That's why I hesitated." He shoved his face in my chest. _Jealous? Of what?_

Mirania cleared her throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but don't we have something we need to do?" I nodded. We pulled away from each other, but I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the cell and down the hall, where we ran into another fight, which ended quickly with a sword to the face, then back the way I had come to rejoin Dagran and Lisa. I was still holding his hand when we first entered the small room, not even thinking of what Dagran would do or say about it. I released his hand before he could see, but I frequently turned a glance to Yurick to make sure he wasn't going anywhere. In times of war, one can never be too careful.

"What-," he started.

"I found them in the hold. Along with about 30 prisoners, 20 of which have said that they will fight with us. The others said it was a suicide mission," I told Dagran.

"I figure they're going to die anyway so why not go down fighting?" Yurick shrugged.

"Anyway," I continued, "the deck has probably 15 guards, so we can take them, but I don't know how good their reinforcements are." He nodded to my report.

"Good. That's more than I was expecting in regards to men. Did you see where the captain's quarters are?" I shook my head. "Okay then, we'll just have to wing it. Zael and Mirania, take the same way you just came and gather the men. Lead them to the deck. Yurick, Calista, and myself will sneak around and try to take out the rest of the guards." I must have made a face because he added, "I mean, not that I don't think you took out all that you could, but I want to be sure." I nodded, smirking a little.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Y**

_What?! You want me to go with _her_? Ah Hell No! Fucking bitch! _I wish I could have objected but I wouldn't want to cause extra trouble during a mission. Not to mention I would have gotten my ass bitten off by Dagran, and a huge disappointed everything from Mirania. Sometimes I _really_ hate my life.

I inhaled deeply, trying not to show my irritation. Zael knew me. He gave me a look that was trying to say that it wasn't that bad. If only he knew. Lisa/Calista, on the other hand, gave me that look… the one that basically says 'bring it on'. We were going to have to fight over him. Lord knows, I wasn't going to lose this one.

The three of us ran out of the room and turned left into one of the rooms that Zael had cleared out earlier. It lead straight to the other side of the ship. I wasn't going to screw this up any worse than I already had so I put up with her. Every time we turned a corner she would get in the way, when we were trying to be sneaky she would trip, even just walking down the straight walkways seemed to be a challenge for her. I swear she was the clumsiest person I had ever seen. Ever.

It didn't seem to affect us much. Either the Gurak had terrible hearing or we weren't as loud as I thought we were. We reached the side of the deck and waited for the signal from Zael or Mirania. We couldn't see a sign of there even being a Captains Quarters on the ship, but this was a very large ship and all ships have at least a small one. We'd just have to find it.

Soon enough, we caught the signal and Zael and I started our long distance attacks; my flares and his crossbow. Eventually we just ran out for hand to hand combat. We, Zael, Dagran, the 15 to 20 guys, and I, not Calista, defeated them and opened a few doors to eventually run into the Captains Quarters. A surprise was definitely there. We were attacked by this big armadillo thing that kept spinning and releasing spikes into us. It kind of hurt. Just a little…

Zael was hit by the tail and I ran over to see if he was okay. It had sent him flying into a wall. "Who would keep this on their ship?!" I helped him up just in time to have us both shot back down again by the stupid spikes. "Sorry," I said through clinched teeth.

"It's fine. Are you alright?" he only opened one eye, attempting a smile. I nodded as we both rose to our feet. We figured out that if we shielded ourselves from the spikes and attacked it when it was dizzy we could finish it off. It worked after a few tries.

"Well, we did it," Dagran seemed pretty proud of his plan. But we _had_ done it. It was a successful take over. Now we just needed to turn this hunk of junk around. The ship needed repairs, though, so we stopped at the closest island and started to fix it up.

The island looked familiar to me. I wanted to check it out. I asked Dagran and he said it was fine as long as I took someone with me. I had no intention of doing that. My reasons were much too personal for anyone in the group and Zael was watching Calista and having far too much fun with it, so I just started out by myself. I grabbed anything I might need, including a few snacks, and started down the ramp, a little frustrated by the way Zael and Calista were talking. _God! I'm always jealous._ I was irritated at myself again. Half way down the ramp, a hand grabbed mine, spinning me around.

"Where are you going?" Zael looked confused. "Shouldn't you be going with someone?"

"Oh, and I guess you're volunteering? No. I'm going by myself. I don't need a tag along." I said it kind of coldly. I turned to walk back down the ramp.

"Well, I'm going," He stepped in front of me and blocked my path.

"Shouldn't you be looking after Calista?" I retorted, spitting her name.

"They can do that. There are so many people on that ship." _Is he just incredibly thick or is he faking his optimism? _It's like he couldn't even tell that I hated her.

"Suit yourself, but if you're too slow then I'm leaving you behind." I pushed past him and down to the island. He followed.

We walked for a decent while but I soon found what I was looking for.

"What is it?" Zael asked as we entered a very large cave.

"It's a ship wreck. I've been searching for the right one –," I cut off as I walked into a hole in the side of the hull. I heard Zael call for me to wait but I didn't care. This was _my_ mission. I wandered up a set of stairs into a big open area with a flood problem. The barrels were floating in some places and only some places were easy to walk on. I took a few steps forward. I turned my head slightly. I had lost track of Zael, but I could sense him nearby. I took a few more steps, but next thing I knew, I was under a giant spider or crab or something. I probably yelled because Zael called for me and ran to my rescue. _What am I? A princess or something? I have to be rescued?_ I wasn't going to live this down so I was glad Syrenne wasn't here. I began to stab the thing's underside with my dagger and it died, but there was another one that was fighting Zael. I ran over to him to help him out but before I could finish casting, the stupid thing bit me or something. I fell a little, regaining my balance after a little while. Zael finished it off. I took a few steps towards the next room but didn't make it. I fell to the wall next to me and slid to the floor slowly on my back.

"Yurick!" Zael ran to me and started looking me over and asking what was wrong. I could barely respond.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Z**

"Yurick?" He wasn't responding. I was so nervous. "It's that poison, isn't it?" _God Damned spider crabs!_ "I'll go see if there is something that can help." I kissed his forehead and put his dagger in his hand. I couldn't lose him. Not now, not ever.

As I stood I heard him mumble, "Oh, right. Because there is really going to be some conveniently placed antidote on a ship that wrecked over 14 years ago." How was he able to be sarcastic if he could barely even bat an eyelid? I rolled my eyes and ran down the hall and up a later. At the top you would have never guessed what I found conveniently placed in a box. An antidote. I went back down to him as quickly as I could and had to sort of force feed it to him. After a few minutes he muttered, "What the hell? This ship is too weird." I laughed at that, thankful that he was getting back to normal. I love magic… it works quickly and effectively.

I helped him to his feet. "Don't underestimate the power of coincidence." He let out a fake laugh accompanied by a smug face. "So what are we doing here anyway?"

"It's a private matter." His face was straight and he didn't seem like he was going to reveal anything.

"Why am I even here if you're not even going to tell me what we're doing?" I wanted to know. He didn't really talk to me anymore. I was wondering if there was something wrong.

"I don't remember inviting you. In fact, I strictly remember saying that I was going to do this myself," he snapped.

"Yurick," I reached for his hand, but missed as he turned around quickly, looking up at the ceiling.

"Did you hear that? There is someone above us. Two." He had this weird way of sensing people, or should I say creatures, but I heard it, too. Then I heard a scream. It was a girl. Then the ceiling fell in and, surely enough, two people came crashing down. It was Dagran and Mirania.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked him.

"Following you two. It's not safe to wonder by yourselves." _If he was following us the whole time, did he just not give shit when my boy was poisoned or when we were being attacked by giant spider crab things? Great plan, Dagran._ He asked the same question that I had asked only moments before; what were we doing here. Still, Yurick didn't answer. I shrugged. "Well, we need to find a way out of here," he said matter-of-factly.

"Not yet. I'm not done here." Yurick stared intently between the floor and Dagran, who nodded reluctantly.

Dagran and Yurick took the door to the left and Mirania and I took the door to the right. After a few hallways we ended up in the same place. This was the deck. But why was it enclosed? What type of ship was this? Yurick walked over to the front of the room and put a hand on a plaque that was nailed onto a platform. He sighed.

"What's going on?"I asked him.

He took a moment. "It's my father's ship." He sighed again. "I was told rumours that when my island was under attack he fled like a coward. I couldn't believe it. I still don't know and that's why I've been looking for it." We all went to console him.

"Do you want to look around some more then?" I kind of wanted him to say yes and for us to be alone again, but I kind of wanted to go back to the ship. He nodded. I smiled. But then Dagran decided that he was coming, too. Great. We followed him around for a while up stairs and around halls. Finally, we found the Captain's room. The skeleton and clothes were still intact.

"Dad!" Yurick ran to the bone man on the floor. I felt like a part of him hoped that the thing would move. The thought was a little creepy. On the floor next to his bone hands were an old book and a small sword. Yurick picked up the book and started thumbing through it. "This is it. This is his last entry. They didn't flee. They were on their way back and were attacked. They didn't have any more useful supplies; they were completely out of food." He closed the book, pocketed it, and turned towards us, but mostly Dagran. "Thank you for allowing me to come out here. Now I know."

"So can we leave now?" Dagran turned around. I pushed his shoulder. "What? I'm just trying to get back to the crew." We left more or less the way we came and headed back to the ship.

Yurick grabbed my arm as I started to follow my brother. "Hold on." I strayed back a little for him. "Thank you for coming with me. I couldn't have done this without you." He kissed my cheek then ran to catch up to Mirania, who was with Dagran.

Back at the ship I found Calista on the bridge. She was chatting with some of the crew. _She's fine._ I wound my way through people to the back room where Yurick was. He smiled when he saw me. I couldn't help myself. I kissed him the same way I had done on this same ship earlier today. We spent the rest of the night together as we sailed back to the castle.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Y**

He had definitely helped me out back there. I owed something to him. However, I couldn't think of anything so I just said thank you and kissed his cheek. Then I ran to Mirania and started asking her about the adventure she had gone on with Dagran into the woods on the island. She said that she went to see why the forest here was still alive but hers wasn't. Turns out that the Guardians died and, alas, so did the forests.

"That's a shame." I put my hand on her shoulder. "I hope you figure out why it's happening."

"Thank you, Yurick."

Back at the ship, I decided that I wanted to be alone to think things over. I went to the back room near the Captain's Quarters. I sat on the floor and read my father's journal entries. They went through so many hard ships and all the while he never stopped thinking about my mother and I. That was very honourable. I missed him.

"Yurick? Are you okay?" Zael's voice came from the door. I turned to see him putting his head through the frame. "Oh, come here." He sounded sympathetic. He kneeled next to me and slid his thumb below my eye. Only then did I realize I had been crying. "You miss him don't you?"

I nodded. There was a huge lump in my throat. I smiled at him, closing my arms tight around his neck. He caressed my jaw as he had done earlier that day and pulled me in for a kiss. _God, I love this guy. _"Thank you." I had only just pulled away for a few seconds then found myself pushing into him again. I felt my tears dry up and I felt really happy. Happier than I had been all day.

He pulled away and I caught myself sending a sort of whine his way. He looked at me with the strangest face. It was a cocky face. He had heard it. "I have an idea." He pulled me off the floor and, grasping my hand, he pulled me towards the Captain's room. A lot of nasty thoughts about what we were going to be doing slipped through my mind. _Stop it, Yurick._ As the door opened, the sun set illuminated the empty room. It was beautiful. He led me to the back of the room where a set of wooden rimmed glass doors were opened and closed again. We were on the balcony area at the back of the ship. It was fancier than I thought a Gurak ship would be.

"Wow." That was all I could say when I turned around to face the setting sun.

"Isn't it?" Zael squeezed my hand. I returned the gesture. He pulled me down to the floor and leaned against the wall. I laid on my side with my legs bent and my head on his chest, my hands around his waist. "It makes me think of you."

I looked into his eyes, interested, but didn't take my head off his chest. "How so?"

He pointed to the colourful clouds around the sun. "They are hiding the sky, but it doesn't make the view less beautiful." That was corny but I fell for it. "Also, the colour of the sun is the same as your magic and the light reflecting off of the ocean looks like your eye right now."

I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't just stare at him. It wasn't enough. I sat up just enough to reach behind his head and pull his lips close to mine. I propped myself up on my other arm and felt my lips graze his. "I love you. Even if you are a sap."

"I love you, Yurick. Nothing will ever change that." The warmth of his breath drew me in the rest of the distance and our lips locked again. This time it wasn't just a kiss, though. It was an intense passion between us. I bit his lower lip, making him shiver. He kissed the edge of my mouth and worked his way to my neck. I was already breathing heavier from the lack of air exchanged, but when he bit my collar bone, I was completely breathless. I moaned just a little. He closed his jaw even more then began to suck and kiss the area. We didn't do this too often, but, oh, when we did, it was amazing to me.

I pulled myself away enough to straddle his legs. I slid my hands up his thin shirt and to his abs. There was no denying that he had some serious muscles. I leaned back in to rejoin our lips. His fingers crept up my sides and to my shoulders where they slid my jacket off, reveling my chest completely. Then they stationed themselves on my hips. I removed his jacket in the same way. Usually we would have stopped there. Last time I embarrassed myself pretty badly. I had put him on then turned him down. I was still not used to that sort of intimacy. But I wanted to tonight. I could feel his hands fighting the urge to go farther. I decided to help him. I moved his hands to my belt and helped his fingers unclasp the buckle and pull it out from around me.

He pushed me away just enough to look me in the eye. "Wait."

I didn't want him to stop. I wanted him to take me for himself and to let me know that we belonged together and with no-one else. "I'm ready." I tried to kiss him again, but once more he pushed me away.

"Are you sure?" I bit my entire lower lip seductively and nodded slowly, finishing with a light smile. I didn't have time for this. I just wanted him now. "You're not going to regret this are you?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm sure this time." That seemed to be good enough because it didn't take long for him to accept the answer and pull me back to him. Our tongues slid over each other with more drive then I had ever felt before. His body was heating up fast. I didn't think he would be turned on so quickly.

Next thing I knew, I was completely bare and underneath him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 - Z**

I couldn't believe that he actually _wanted_ to this time. I have to admit that I was pretty excited. I had been content with whatever contact we could have, but this was something that I desperately had wanted.

I stroked through his soft white hair. I had already taken out his braids. He rested with his head on my right shoulder and his right hand on my chest. We were curled up watching the stars underneath our jackets. This was certainly in the running for the best night of my life.

"Thank you," he whispered into my skin. I kissed his head.

"Anything for you." I meant those words. Those and the other three that I wish I said more. "I love you."

I could feel him smile. His breathing was steady, though his heart still raced like mine. I pointed to the sky. "That sequence sort of looks like Syrenne." He laughed.

"There's no way. She's not holding a beer bottle." I had to laugh at that. It was true. We rarely ever found her without one.

"I did say 'sort of'." I wondered how they were doing, Syrenne and Lowell. We had last seen them in the castle. I hoped they were alright.

I continued to rake through his hair. I felt him relax a little and I figured he had fallen asleep. "Goodnight, kiddo." I kissed his forehead again and followed suit.

"Wake up." I woke to Yurick. He was kneeling over me. "Dagran is going to be wondering where we are. We're almost at the docks."

I sat up quickly. I looked around a little, remembering what had happened. I found his eyes and smiled.

"Okay, sap, now is not the time for that. Get dressed." He was still smiling when he threw me my jacket. I put it on and tightened my pants and we both took off through the doors and out of the Captain's room. "We should probably go separately so he doesn't suspect anything. There are two different rooms in this hallway so if we need to make something up, it will have a good alibi.

I didn't like the idea of making something up, but then again it was Dagran we were talking about. I told him that he could go first but he said it would be more legitimate if I went first. So I did.

Dagran was waiting for us on the deck. Yurick had come out of another door and was following close behind me. "You two better be ready. We'll be arriving soon." I nodded.

It only took a few more minutes to reach the port. As soon as we docked, we left the ship. Mirania caught up to me about half way to the castle.

"Make sure you don't tell Dagran where you were last night."

"What do you mean? What did I do?" I asked.

"Calista almost saw you two. I knew you were back there so I distracted her. But if Dagron had tried to find you, I wouldn't have been able to stop him so you have to be careful. Don't get caught." She patted my shoulder and walked ahead of me.

_How did she know? Were we that obvious? Well, fuck!_

Either way, I guess it doesn't matter. I would never leave Yurick and, as far as I know, he would never leave me. I didn't even like Calista anyway so what did it matter?

"That's him!" I looked up from my thought. Jiral, Calista's fiancé, was standing on top of the hill pointing down at me. The guards behind him ran towards me. I didn't move. They grabbed my arms and shoved me towards the castle.

"What have I done?" I asked the guards that carried me to the dungeon.

"What- Like you don't know." One of the soldiers jabbed his elbow into my side. I winced.

"I really don't." They pushed me all the way down into the dungeon and into the cell where I found Syrenne and Lowell. "Why are you guys here?"

Lowell stared up at me from the back corner. He was sitting cross legged on the floor. "I have no idea. I was flirting with a noble lass one moment and I was in here the next. I don't know what for."

Syrenne nodded in agreement. "I was going back to the tavern to get a drink. I got pulled in here like I was some sort of animal. I don't like being man handled, you know." She stood as she spoke and placed her hand on her hip.

"I don't know what I did, but I feel as if this is all my fault." I leaned against the cold stone wall of the cell, folding my arms and looking down.

"Get your bloody hands off me!" Yurick's voice echoed in the giant, empty dungeon.

_I hope to god he's okay._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 - Y **

"Right Bastards! Don't fucking touch me!" I elbowed the guards' grubby mitts away. My hands were bound and I was sandwiched between the two guards. Mirania and Dagran were behind me with two of their own problems.

We approached a cell and the guard to my right started to pull out his keys.

"Yurick! Thank god you're alright." Zael leaned against the bars of the cell and looked as if he wanted to reach out to me.

"Alright? Are you serious? I'm in a cell in a dungeon. Who in the world thinks that's alright?" I was irritated. Why was I being pulled into this? _What did I do?_

"Why are we being put in here?" Mirania had a strange cool in her voice for having just been arrested.

"You kidnapped the Lady Calista." The guard explained.

"Hold on. You think _we_ kidnapped her? So you didn't notice the giant Gurak king grabbing her and running off?" Syrenne walked over to the door as the guard closed it behind us. The guards had unbound our hands as we entered the cell, or cage. Seriously. It was very disgusting, even for a band of mercenaries. The place reeked of dead rats and sweat. The walls were moist and mildewed. The bars were rusting. Ech….

"If you deny your charge, you'll 'ave to take it up with the Count." He locked the gate and walked away with his partner.

"Now what?" I turned to face everyone and leaned against the rusty bars.

"I'm going to see if I can negotiate our release. Oh. Here comes someone now." Dagran uncrossed his arms and slowly walked over to the gate.

I turned to see General Asthar standing outside of the gate. "You fight well. You have earned my trust. I know that Calista was kidnapped by the Gurak King. I will try to appeal to the court as much as I can, but they are only accusing Zael. The rest of you are only in here because you are comrades."

"May I come with you to talk this over with the Count, since I am not the accused?" Dagran was trying to help us, but it came across as more of a passive aggressive attitude towards Zael. _They really thought that just because that little bitch had a little crush on my Zael, that he would kidnap her? Oh, hell no._

The general nodded and Dagran was released to go with him. I hoped for the best.

Zael sighed. "I'm sorry for getting you into this." He apologized to us.

"It's not your fault. If the Gurak hadn't attacked, none of this would have happened." Mirania said. I took my position against the bars again. "We didn't actually kidnap her so we shouldn't have much problem getting out of this."

"Good luck with that." A random voice from the back of the cell. A man scooted into a small patch of sunlight. "It's all social status. If you are lower than a noble man, your word means nothing."

"Well that's pretty shitty." Zael sounded irritated now. He takes a while to get cranky, but when he does it becomes BAD. Last time he was angry, he took out an entire squad of Gurak and an Ork in less than 2 minutes and by 'took out' I mean demolished, tore apart, ravaged. As impressive as it was, it wasn't pretty.

"I'm coming up with a plan." An old voiced man was kneeling in the other corner at the back of the cell. "I have been digging a hole to get out of here."

"That doesn't seem smart. If we get caught, we'd just be in more trouble." Lowell stood and walked over to Zael. He was giving him a look that told him to stop thinking about escape.

"What? I don't want to dig us any deeper either." He stood up straight and uncrossed his arms. "It's not like I meant to get us in here."

"Zael." He turned around. "You have been summoned to the court." A guard was unlocking the door. Zael nodded and went with him.

"I hope he'll be alright." I whispered, to myself mostly, after he had left ear shot. I sat down in the corner and started fidgeting with my boot. Images of the night before had slipped into my mind and I couldn't help but smile. I think I might have snickered a little as well.

Syrenne sat next to me and placed her hand on my knee. "He'll be fine. That boy can take care of himself."

"That's not what I'm worried about." A frown returned to my face. "He doesn't seem like he'd give anything away, especially if someone he loves is at stake."

"As much as I agree with you on that, I believe he'll do what he knows to be best." She leaned close to my face and whispered, "Besides, he never compromises a loved one. He'd never reveal anything, if that's what you're scared of."

I blushed and twisted the loose fabric of my pants. "I know. I- I just have a bad feeling about this."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 - Z**

The guard took me into the court chambers to stand in the middle of a round stone room. The judge stood above and before me in a small, square stone box, Jiral to his right and an empty podium to his left for witnesses.

"Zael, you have been summoned here to be tried for the kidnapping of the Lady Calista," he said. His voice was deeper than I thought it was going to be.

"I did not kidnap –"

"She was with you on a stolen Gurak ship. Do you deny it?"

I looked down. "No." The crowd gasped.

"See! I told you it was true!" Jiral was enjoying this far too much.

I looked at the judge. "We saved her from the Gurak king! He is the one who kidnapped her!"

"Silence! You shall only speak when asked a direct question." _I was silenced? What?_ If this was a fair trial then I would be listened to. _I guess that man was right when he said that our social standing had already determined the case._

I hung my head again. "Were you with the Lady Calista during the attack?"

"Yes."

"Your honour, if I may, I saw this _mercen'ry_ with Calista _before _the attack." Of course you did, Jiral. Of course you did. And _mercenary_? Really? That's probably your reasoning behind this. Or I am just cooler that you are. That would explain a lot.

The judge looked shocked. "Is this true?" The audience matched his concern. There were whispers.

"Yes, sir. We are close friends." I was being kind of honest. I mean, everyone thought I had a thing for her, but in truth I just thought that she was a dreamer which actually intrigued me. Friends is all I wanted to be.

The whispers turned to shouts and shouts turned to cuss words and throwing shit at me. The judge called for order but only a few of them actually listened.

"How do we know that your intentions were honest? Perhaps you only wished to sweep the Lady away from me just before our day of wed." _Jiral, Shut the fuck up. I hate you._

"Because I-," Well shit. I couldn't tell them about Yurick. I would get him into trouble and that wouldn't be okay. Apparently it isn't right to 'lay with another man' here, but just a few countries away, where we first mentioned our love, it's perfectly natural.

"Go on." The Judge was awaiting an answer I could not give. I stayed silent.

"I suppose that if he won't respond to you then we'll have to use other means," Jiral waved his hand at the guard behind me. I turned just in time to see the whip crash down on my back. I winced. I would have caught it and beat the hell out of all of them if my hands weren't bound. Another crack caused me to slam my eyes shut and hunch over. The next sent me to the floor. A few more sent my mind into the past…

_"__Get up! You are such a wimp! Get up! You wanted to fight."_

_Their feet rammed into my sides and stomach. My face was bloody and my arms bruised. All I wanted was to be left alone. Didn't people understand that? _

_ "__Leave him alone!" Dagran! My friend had come! He pulled one of the kids back and pulled his sword on the other three. "I said leave him alone."_

_They backed off and ran after their leader. Dagran helped me to my feet. "Thank you, friend." I held my side in agony._

_ "__What did I say about getting yourself into trouble?" He draped my arm around his neck and half carried me to the tavern. _

_ "__But those kids were stealing bread from a little girl. It was wrong. I had to stop them." _

_ "__Great job at that. We should save up for another sword. I have 50 coins. Twice that and we can get you a decent one. Now walk faster so we can get going." I smiled. We had only met just 4 months ago. He was the first person to talk to me since I lost my mum. _

_ "__Thank you, Dagran."_

"Send him back." I was grabbed by the shoulders and forced back to the dungeon, where I was 'put in my place', meaning violently thrown to the floor. Luckily my hands were un-cuffed so I caught myself just before I collapsed to the floor. I was exhausted and in pain. I vaguely remember Yurick and Syrenne kneeling over me…


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 - Y**

"Oh my god!" Syrenne stared past me towards the open gate. I turned to see what she was looking at and, before I even knew, we were kneeling over a bloody and beaten Zael.

"Holy shit! What have they done to you?" I brushed some of the hair out of his face. He had passed out. His jacket was torn and covered with blood. I could feel the tears starting to swell my eyes. I tried to hold them back and it was decently successful.

"Does anyone have any water?" Lowell had come over and was pulling of his jacket and trying to stop the bleeding.

"I believe I still have some." The guy who had been digging a hole, his name was Horace I think, handed him a canteen.

"There should be enough." Lowell wet a spot on his jacket and started to pat at Zael's back.

Eventually he stopped the heavy blood flow. _God damn, this is scary_. We moved him into a darker place against the wall on his stomach. I sat against the wall next to him and ran my fingers through his hair. I wasn't sure if he could feel it but it made me feel better. I slid down just enough to whisper where no-one else could hear me. "I love you, Zael. I hope you're alright." I looked away for a second, thinking of what could have happened in the court room. I felt something grazing my hand on my lap. I looked down and saw his fingers intertwined with mine. My eyes traced his arm back to his tired body and to his face. It was still flat, but after a few moments, a smirk twitched its way across. I couldn't help but smile. I loved his heart. I bent over to kiss his cheek.

"I love you, too." He whispered weakly as he turned his head to intercept my kiss. It lasted longer than I intended. I was worried he would tire himself out.

Lowell cleared his throat. "I don't think this is a good time or place." He smiled. "What would Dagran say?"

"Dagran isn't here, is he?" I was always irritated every time his 'ideals' were brought into the conversation. I glared at Lowell and squeezed Zael's hand. Syrenne came over as well and whispered something to Lowell. He sighed then nodded and walked away.

"How are you doing?" She sat down in front of me and placed her hand lightly on Zael's calf.

"I could be better." He started to sit up, groaning as he did so.

"Don't exhaust yourself, Hun." The only two people I would ever trust to take care of him would be Syrenne or Mirania. Sometimes I debate whether or not I can even take care of him myself.

"I'll be fine." He leaned his back against the wall and grimaced. Probably because of the moisture on the grime covered wall.

"You can lean on me if you need to." He put his back on my side and rested his head on my shoulder. My arm wrapped around him. "I hope you feel better soon." I kissed his forehead.

"So what happened?" Lowell came back over and fell next to Syrenne. I swear there is something going on there that they don't think we know about.

"I wouldn't give them what they asked for." His breaths were short and frequent. "They asked if we took Calista, I said no. They asked if we had a Gurak ship, I said we did. They asked if we helped the Gurak, I said no. Then Jiral posed that I might have a special relationship with her. I said that it wasn't that way." He paused.

"Is that it? Then why would they do this?" Lowell was pretty upset. I would be, too, if I thought there was no reason for beating a close friend. However, I knew that wasn't the whole story. There was more and he was reluctant to tell us.

"They asked for proof." He made a quick glance at me. "I wouldn't give them any."

_So he didn't give them anything because he didn't want to get me in trouble. Oh. I feel so guilty now. It's my fault. I mean, what's he going to say, "Oh, I was having sex with my boyfriend"? No. I wouldn't._

He must have seen the look on my face because he kissed my hand and said, "It's not your fault. It was my decision not to say anything. On hindsight I think I should have lied." He smiled a little. It didn't make me feel any better. He would never lie. Even if he wanted to. Even to save his own damn life. But I can't ever say that I regret being with him.

"That doesn't make any sense. It makes sense how they couldn't trust you because of the lack of alibi, but the fact that they tried to beat it out of you is just immoral." Lowell gazed at the floor with his thinking stare.

Another guard came. "Zael. You are summoned by the court."

"Over my dead body," I mumbled. He started to sit up. Lowell had to help him a bit. He stumbled over to the gate and stepped out to the guard. "Be careful." I didn't think it would offer much good, but I said it anyway. He looked back towards the corner we were in and smiled weakly.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 - Z**

I was back in the courtroom. The set up was the same only the witness stand had someone in it. I'm not going to go into all the witness reports of Calista and I talking or being seen together or just random statements that didn't make any sense. I don't know how many witnesses went up and spoke against me, but only two spoke for me; Sir Therius and some random guy, I noticed, was an old man I had helped. He didn't have much to say do to the fact that he didn't know me, but Therius' was much appreciated. I nodded at him in thanks and he did likewise.

Shortly after Therius was a surprise. General Athstar came into the lower area where I was.

"Sorry I'm late, though I find that I wasn't requested. I have something that can help us in this struggle to determine guilty or not guilty." He gestured towards the doorway behind me. "May I present our greatest witness, the Lady Calista." Everyone was shocked. Including myself. Jiral's face was priceless, though. "What was it you told me?"

She stepped forward. "I asked him if I could go with them. I was told no. When they went aboard the ship, I went with them on my own accord. I endangered myself."

"She lies! She was forced to say that!" Jiral was losing and he wasn't happy.

The crowd was wild with chatter and accusing stares.

"Who are you to accuse this man?" A powerful voice rang through the stone room. It was the Count. Dagran was on his heel. "This man is destined to save us." He held up my right hand, which brought my left with it, and told me to activate my power. The blue glow lit the room. The crowd gasped. "This man has the power of the outsider! Therefore you would be condemning the man who would solve our problems."

"What? NO! I saw him take her!" Jiral was freaking out now.

"Lord Jiral, would you rather have it that your future kingdom be destroyed by its enemy? I'm sure you wouldn't wish your future wife to be in a world such as that." The count had him beat. I smirked as the guard took me out of my bonds. Jiral backed down. "This is cause for celebration!" The count raised his arms and people cheered.

"The others will be let out shortly," Dagran whispered as I passed him on my way out of the room. I was glad just to be out of there. I couldn't wait to go back to the tavern and relax. Maybe take a bath.

"That's good. Can we go back now?" I was tired.

"No. Not yet. Count Arganan has something to talk to us about. I was only able to accomplish all of this by telling him about your hand." He leaned to my ear and whispered, "He's willing to knight us."

I sighed lightly. "Alright." Watch him only want us because of my power.

So I was right. All he wanted us for was my arm. Too bad he couldn't just cut it off. He promised to knight my friends and I if we pledged elegance to him. I'm wasn't excited about that one. He also promised me a chance at Calista's hand in marriage. Um. No.

I was back at the tavern in the main room of the bar sitting at a table alone. I was thinking of how much I wanted to say no and how much my team depended on me to say yes. Lowell sat next to me and passed me a mug of ail.

"Are you still thinking over that offer?" he asked. I nodded, staring at the mug. "Well, don't put too much thought into it. Go off of what you think is best, not what Dagran says or what the Count says is best. It should be easy once you figure the difference."

"What would you do?" I looked towards him but still down at the table.

"It doesn't make the least bit of difference to me. Personally, I like living on the edge. Settling down isn't really my style. Though, it would be nice to be respected as a knight." He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder. "Either way, it's up to you." He stood and returned to flirting with the bar maid.

Syrenne caught me later in the night. "Zael, do whatever you want. I really don't care. I don't like that jerk, Sir pretty boy. I don't want to have an attitude like that." She kissed my cheek and returned to whatever it was that she was doing.

I went over to Mirania to ask her opinion. She basically said the same thing as Syrenne, but added that I should think about what Calista wants as well.

I already knew what Dagran would say. _"Think of the whole group not just yourself. This could be good for us." _I'm sorry, brother, but my will goes against it. The only person left to ask was, to me anyway, the only person that mattered; Yurick.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 - Y**

Marry Calista. Did he want to do that? Was it something that he thought about?

"Yurick, can we talk?" Oh, no. I wasn't sure if I could have this talk if it was what I thought it was. I nodded. He pulled me aside through a door. He wanted to speak privately. I was confused, though, because we were in the bathroom. There was a bath already prepared. "Can we soak while we talk? I'm really tired." I remembered his back and nodded again.

We disrobed and submerged our bodies in the bath. I had my back to his chest as I leaned back into his arms. "Are you thinking about your decision?"

"Yes. I don't want to do it." I was actually shocked.

"Why?" I turned my head so I could see his face.

He looked awkwardly at the wall. "I don't want to get married, yet. And those 'knights' are rude and lazy. I don't wish to be one of them. However, Dagran has a point when he says that I have to think about you guys. It isn't only for me."

I don't know why I said this next bit or _how_ I even said it. "You should go through with it." His body became tense and, as a reaction, so did mine. I looked down at the water. "You've been dreaming of being a knight all of your life. Why not go for it. Technically, we would be right there with you."

He sighed sadly. "Why would you tell me that?" His arms wrapped tightly around me. "Do you realise that if I take this offer, I have to _marry_ Calista?" I did realise that. I didn't like it, but if he was happy, in some sort of twisted way, I would be, too.

"I do realise that." That was hard to say. I can't imagine how hard it was to hear. No-one has any idea how much I wanted to say that I didn't mean it, to take him into my arms and kiss him, to tell him that I loved him. This was so hard.

"So," he sounded so close to tears that it made my heart shrivel up and bleed out, "do you even care?" The bleeding had just ceased and my heart was trying to force out everything I didn't have left. My body was turning inside out. This hurt so much.

"Yes. I care for your happiness and if being a knight makes you happy, then I say go for it." I had to say that in one breath because I almost failed to take another. His body went limp. I could feel his eyes glued to the back of my neck. I couldn't do it. I turned my whole body to face him, straddling his legs, and saw him crying. I broke. "I don't mean any of that! I'm sorry!" I kissed his forehead and caressed his neck.

"Don't you?" he mumbled.

"No! I only said it because I thought it would make you happy. If saying no to this makes you happy, then do it." My hands slid to his chest and I kissed his cheek tenderly. His tears didn't slow and neither did mine. He pulled me to him and slowly, passionately kissed me. I could never say no to this. This was something I couldn't turn away. "I'm sorry," I whispered into his lips.

"I will always love you. I will never leave you." He put one of his arms around my waist and the other hand on my neck, pulling me closer. I lightly wiped away the tears from his face with my thumb. I could feel him smile. _What the hell was I thinking? Why would I even say that? _ We kissed again and I let him do whatever he wanted from there.

After what seemed like a few minutes later, a knock at the door broke us apart. "Zael?" It was Mirania.

He cleared his throat a little. "Yes?" He wasn't crying anymore, but his eyes were still red.

"Dagran would like you to run out to get some supplies," He was about to reply, but before he said anything she added, "Before you ask if he can do it himself, I should add that he said that only you knew where he was talking about for the items."

He sighed. "Alright."

We slowly rose out of the bath and dried ourselves. He kissed me several times before we were actually dressed and about to leave. After I put on my clothes, I realised that he had unbraided my hair again. _When did he do this?_

He smiled and opened the door a crack. "Are you coming now or in a few minutes?"

"I'll be out in a few minutes." I had to braid my hair. I rarely ever took it out myself. It would be far too obvious and we would get caught if I didn't fix it. _Like they wouldn't already know._ He left, closing the door behind him. I felt my lips with my fingertips. I never wanted to make him feel like that again. I loved him too much to let him be taken by some royal girl. I was confident now that I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. He would say no to the Counts offer and we would leave and continue our lives as they used to be.

_**Side-Note: I apologise to the people who made it through to chapter 16 then were incredibly confused by why that is now chapter 18. The reason is because I was a total fart nugget and forgot two chapters while I was uploading. This is the REAL chapter 11. please enjoy.**_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 - Z**

Dagran wanted me to go upgrade the weapons with Horace, the guy we met in the cell. He was released and said that he was a black smith. He offered cheaper upgrades since we were nice to him. We didn't really acknowledge him so I was kind of confused with why he did so, but I still took advantage of it.

I left the tavern before Yurick came down from the bathroom. I was still hurt by what he said. I know he said he didn't mean it, but he had said it and it hurt that he even gave a thought to it. I mean, why in the world would I choose anyone else over him?

I walked down the street to the corner where Horace's shop was and knocked on the door. There was no answer. I figured that he must be out somewhere and I should come back later so I walked around town to ponder things. When I reached the bridge I saw Horace looking over the ledge.

"Horace, I was looking for you." I stood behind him and leaned against the column. He jumped and stared at me with wide eyes. He looked distressed. "God. What happened to you?"

"My wife! Meredith! She's missing!" He was a wreck.

"How?"

"We were walking near the mansion outside of the gates when something grabbed her! I went in to look for her, but was arrested for trespassing." His eyes went from the floor to me. "Will you help me?"

"Um-," I wasn't really sure if I would be able to convince Dagran to do such a 'common task'. We wouldn't get paid so I was sure that Syrenne wouldn't do it. "If I can get some of my friends to help then yes, I will help."

He smiled widely and clapped his hands together. "Oh, thank you, Master Zael!"

I went back to the tavern and was greeted by Dagran looking towards me. He rarely ever looks happy, so that was not really a nice face to come home to. "Zael, you're back early. What's wrong?"

"Horace's wife is missing and I need help to go save her." I leaned in and whispered," He might give us a discount if we do." I hadn't told him about the one we already had. Either way, he would think it was for saving his wife.

"I'll go." Yurick stood next to Dagran and crossed his arms like he did when he was bored. I smirked, thinking that it wasn't very visible, but Yurick noticed and returned it with a shrug. Lord, was he cute.

"I'm in. Any chance to save a damsel in distress is a given for me." Lowell joined Yurick.

I glanced over at Syrenne and Mirania to see if they wanted in.

"We getting paid?" Of course Syrenne would ask that. I shook my head. "Then not a chance. I have better things to do." She held up the mug that she had been refilling.

Mirania smiled politely and said," Sorry, but I have errands to run myself." I shrugged at them and turned to leave and meet up with Horace outside.

He led us to the mansion he had mentioned just outside of the main town. It was a big house. Scary looking, too. This would be fun.

I scanned the stone wall and opened the gate. Horace and I walked in first and headed straight for the front door. Lowell and Dagran were behind us talking about how there would probably be ghosts and shit. I turned around to give them an eye roll and saw Yurick behind them walking incredibly slow. I tried to make eye contact with him and when I finally did he looked so nervous. Was he scared? I smiled slightly. He had an attempt at one, but it wasn't very good. I turned back towards the door when something caught my attention. I looked over at the window to the right of the door. There was someone there. A little boy. I looked closer at him and he disappeared. I jerked back.

"Scared?" Dagran's hand was on my shoulder.

"No. Just confused." I pointed towards the window. "There was a little boy there."

"No-one is there, Zael." Lowell chimed in.

"No. Obviously not. That's why I said _was_." I shook the thought away and went to open the door.

Horace's hands were shaking. "There's been bad things that happen here. People go missing, cats become demons, and children's screams are heard coming from here. They say this mansion is haunted. They call it the Man Eating Mansion. "


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 - Y**

"Man eating mansion?! No-one told me that we'd be coming to a haunted house!" What the hell? I would not have come if I had known this bit of information. Why didn't Zael tell me?

"You're not scared are you?" Dagran had a smirk that told me he was going to make this a living nightmare for me.

"Of course I'm not! Is it insane to just not want to go into a place called 'the man eating mansion'?" I started to walk forward, convincing myself that this wasn't as bad as it seemed.

"Oh my god. Did you guys see that?" Zael pointed towards one of the downstairs windows.

"Don't even think about trying to scare me. It's not cool." I would have expected Lowell to do that, but not Zael of all people. Jeeze.

"No. I'm not joking. There was a boy there. Then when I looked closer he disappeared." He gazed back at the window.

Dagran sighed. "If you want to scare people, that's not the way to do it. You really need to work on that."

I looked back at Zael. He looked serious. _Maybe he did see something_. _Maybe he's as scared as I am. _"But there was-," he smiled awkwardly, "Okay, you got me." The rest of the group laughed it off and teased him a little, but as soon as they looked away from him, his face went back to a confused and serious look. I wondered, _maybe he really _did_ see something_. I could understand that. The more you defend a point that no-one wants to hear, the more they'll shut you down for it. That was something I learned at a very early age about my father and any other thing that I had an opinion on.

"Are you ready?" Horace was about to open the door when Dagran stepped in front of him to do the exact same thing. _He's so pushy. It's no surprise that I don't like him_. The door didn't open.

"What the hell?" he pulled a few more times then walked away from it. "It's not opening."

"Well I guess that means we can go back to the tavern now," I turned around and started back towards the gate.

"Wait!" Lowell's voice rang through my head. I stopped and, mustering all of the bravery I could at the moment, decided to turn around. "We might be able to find another way in." I knew he was going to say something like that. _Shit. I don't want to go in_. I looked over at Zael to see if he would help me out, granted we were here to save someone. He wouldn't give up his values for me being a pansy. I respect that.

He was still staring into the window. There was someone there. I couldn't see him, but if he said there was a little boy there, I believed him. I mean, it is a haunted mansion.

Dagran and Lowell started to look around to find some way to get in. As I started walking towards the stairs where Zael was standing, the doors suddenly swung open. If he hadn't looked at me right as it happened, I would have actually screamed… Loudly.

"See! I knew Yurick was the key to this." Dagran ran towards the door.

"It smells fear," a voice whispered from right behind me causing me to freeze up as the chill went straight through me. Lowell walked passed me laughing. _Holy shit! How did he even get back there? He was in front of me just a second ago!_

Everyone seemed to be okay with just walking right into a scary ass mansion. Everyone except me, that is. No way was I going to walk in there.

"Come on." Zael's hand extended to me. God, I wished right then that I didn't love him so much. I took his hand and we walked inside. I took a huge breath in, but it came out way to fast as the door behind us closed with a very loud slam. I swung around quickly, gripping his hand tighter. My head felt like it was going to spin off of my shoulders.

"Oi, don't just close the door!" Dagran ordered.

"Well, it wasn't me," Lowell shrugged.

"It's like it closed on its own," I bit the inside of my cheek.

Lowell walked over to the door and attempted to open it. "No dice. Looks like we're trapped in here."

"What?" I could feel blood on my tongue.

I heard Zael snicker behind me. "Hey," he spun me around and lightly placed his hands on my shoulders. "We are going to be alright." My heart wanted to agree, but was taken over by the overwhelming blockade of fear in my mind, but I nodded reluctantly. I looked around the room and saw an empty grand hall with four pillars topped with gargoyles. There were also suits of armour in little alcoves all over the room, including one on top of the other from the ceiling to the floor. There was a creepy chandelier in the centre that looked like it would fall at any moment. It looked so scary. _I don't know who in their right mind would come in here. _I looked at Zael. _Right mind….. well, I suppose I'm the only one with a straight head in here. _ Then I looked at the carpet. "What's that?" It was something small and shiny.

I heard something shake, then I blacked out as something hit me.

I woke to everyone crowded around me. Apparently I was only out for a few minutes.

"Yurick! Are you okay?" Zael put a hand on my shoulder and helped me sit up.

"W-What the hell?" I could hear my voice crack as I looked around me to see a broken chandelier. There was glass everywhere.

Dagran walked around the room casually, "Their reception leaves me a little cold. Be careful."

_Yeah, whatever, asshole. We shouldn't even have come in here. _ I rubbed my head. "I'm fine, thanks," I glared at him.

He ignored my comment. "Quite a ghastly place, judging by the welcome."

"That's aristocrats for you; nutjobs, the lot of 'em," Lowell grinned.

I sat back on my feet and put my head on my knees. _Owwwww._

Dagran wondered over to the door across from the entrance. "Let's try through here."

I looked up to see where everyone was headed when WHITE SKELETEN HANDS came THROUGH THE WALL and grabbed him, pulling him INTO THE WALL!

"Dagran!" Zael yelled, running towards the wall. "Dagran, answer me!" he hit the wall, like that would do anything.

"Cool it, Zael!" Lowell pulled him back. "It's just a trap."

"Cool it? Are you mad?" I was pretty sure that was a rhetorical question.

"He ain't gonna get done in that easy." Lowell inspected the door. "Let's keep going."

I looked over at Horace, who was shaking just as bad as I thought I was, but my head hurt too much to even shiver anymore. I stood up and walked over to Zael. "He says 'Be careful' and he's the first to get done in, the stupid bastard."

"Master Dagran-," Horace muttered softly.

Lowell stopped for a second and gripped his sword tightly, "This place really sends a shiver down my spine."

If it had been up to me, which it obviously wasn't, we would have left as soon as the door opened, but I knew better and I knew that Zael would never leave a friend, let alone his brother.

Zael opened the door and I found myself screaming to the first thing to happen, which was one word; bats. Of course it had to be bats.

We ran through the doorway once it was cleared of the rats with wings. Disgusting little creatures, really. I fixed my hair and followed them. "This mansion is not normal."

"Nobody here… Dagran, if you're here, answer me!" Zael looked around the room, which appeared to be a bedroom with a few bookshelves.

"I can't believe it's really happening," Horace said with a weak voice as his knees trembled.

I looked at him with a worried look on my face, scared that Zael, or worse, myself, would be the next victim. "Horace, are you sure you don't know anything about this place?"

He didn't answer. His eyes followed Lowell, who bent to the floor. "Hmm, what are these scratches?" I glanced over to what he was looking at to see that they led to a mirror…. A mirror that reflected the room, but not the people in it. It was like a portal to another dimension or some crazy thing. I started shaking, which grew worse as I saw the mirror ripple.

"Umm, Lowell," I started.

"Don't be such a baby, Yurick." He looked back towards me with a smile, but all I could do was point at the armed skeleton that grabbed him. "AH!" he screamed as it dragged him by his feet back into the mirror. "W-Wait! Don't eat me! I taste terrible! There's a girl I know. She's got some real prime beef!"

I didn't know whether to scream or smack him in the face. He was talking about Syrenne, the prick. I'd be sure to tell her that when we got back to the tavern so she could rip his head off…. If we got back to the tavern…

"Damn it! Lowell!" Zael ran after him, but couldn't go through the mirror.

"One more down…" Horace mumbled. "Where could they have possibly disappeared to?"

"I told you lot that we shouldn't have come here! Didn't I say that?! How come no-one ever listens to me? It's always 'stop being a baby' or 'you're just a pansy', well now look. At least I'm still alive." I ranted.

"Master Zael, what's that mirror?" Horace was quaking in his boots.

"I don't know, but we have to get them back," was all he said before searching around the room again. He circled the room then walked slowly back towards the mirror. "Are the others trapped in here?" He looked deep into the vortex like abyss.

"Zael look out! Behind you!" I didn't care that I sounded like a little girl when I screamed. No-one was going to hurt him but me when we got out of this retched place. I grabbed my dagger and charged towards the skeletal figure. I cut it once before Zael got the same idea and drew his sward as well.

"I-It's a skeleton!" Horace shrieked, then hid behind the bed.

"I know what it is! Now shut up!" I screamed at him as I began to concentrate on where to send my flames, but with Zael slashing at it, he kept getting in the way. I finally had an opening and was able to knock it down as Zael hit it with a final blow that was almost in slow motion. _Damn he's sexy._ I bit my lip as I ran over to him and stared at the pile of bones on the floor. "That's odd. He doesn't look like the last one." Then all of my fear rushed back to me, as it I had thrown it aside to help the man I hoped would be mine forever. "What the hell are we doing in this place?"

Zael stared down at his shoes, "Dagran, Lowell, Horace's wife… where did they go?" Then he had a change of thought track as he looked to the other side of the room. "Oh look, silver arrows. Do you know how rare these are to come by?" He bent down and picked them up, putting them in his quiver with the rest of his ammo.

I looked down at the table next to me, "Oh, a book. I wonder what's written in it." Then I thought, _wow, how off track are we now, _but books make everything in my world much better so I picked it up and opened it to a random page.

_A dirty servant named Henrietta 27__th__ of August._

_It has been one month since I started working at this house. My master is very kind to me. His wife and child are also very nice when they call me. I am so glad I started working here. The rumours in the city are not true at all. _

"Come on, let's go," Zael moved towards the next door. I closed the book, with my finger still holding my place and followed after him.

As we came into a hallway with, seemingly, no exits, I shivered. "Seriously, what's with this place?"

Horace slowed his walking pace, "The people in this city say this place is… cursed." He stopped and pointed to the grave yard outside of a window that I failed to see. "Many have entered, but none have ever returned."

"And you just now find it well enough to tell us? Maybe you should have mentioned that small detail!" _Jeeze, it's like he's trying to get us killed._

"I'm sorry! I thought it only a silly rumour!" he paused, "I mean, who ever heard of a 'man eating mansion'?" -

I shivered as I suddenly remembered that it was called that. I nearly felt sick the first time they mentioned it.

"Yurick," Zael grabbed my hand, his eyes looked worried and sad, "let's just find Dagran and Lowell."

It took me a minute then I squeezed his hand and said, "Alright, but the sooner we find them, the sooner we leave. I don't like this place."

We began again walking down the hallway. I was still holding Zael's hand tightly. As we passed another window, that I actually noticed this time, it shattered, sending sharp pieces of glass and… more bats… towards me. I screamed again and pulled away from Zael in order to shield my face.

"Enough with the bats!" He yelled. _I'm glad I'm not the only one with bat problems._

I put a hand to my chest, feeling how fast my pulse was. "My heart… It stopped for a second there."

Letting go of his hand was the worst thing I could have done. I tried taking a few steps forward to reach him again, but I couldn't move. "Zael," I started before I began to sink into the floor. I looked down at my disappearing legs. "AH! What is this?!" I screamed as my head was pulled under the wood.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 - Z**

"Enough with the bats!" I yelled. _Seriously, if they intended to create a haunted mansion, they should have put more of a scaring factor and less of an annoying factor. _

I brushed some of the glass off of my jacket. _Wait, I'm not holding his hand anymore._ I turned around with a slight smile, hoping he was scared out of his wits so I could hold him again, but instead I found him sinking into the floor. "YURICK!" I screamed, reaching out towards the only part of him that hadn't disappeared. I fell to the floor and he was nowhere to be seen. "DAMN IT!" I hit the floor as hard as I could. _How could I have lost him?_ I felt like my heart was going to be ripped out.

"Oh no!" cried Horace, "At this rate, we'll be gone too!"

I didn't care. Maybe then I'd be taken to where Yurick and Dagran were. I lost my brother, my friend, and my love, and now I was stuck to deal with this pathetic old man. I rose to my feet, with anger running through me. "Shut up, Horace. We are going to find them if it's the last thing we do." He looked scared so I added, "You brought us here to find your wife, the one person you love more than yourself, and yet you seem more concerned about your own well being than with hers. If you truly love someone, you put everything aside if they are in danger. Nothing else matters." I began walking forward, my sword firmly in my grasp. "I don't care what _you_ do, but, if you don't come, after I find _my_ loved ones, I'm leaving." He followed behind me silently. _Pathetic._

As we opened the door at the end of the hallway, I heard laughing. It was a child. The next room was another bedroom, but this one had a huge bed and only one large bookcase. On the bed was that boy I saw in the window on our way into the mansion. I didn't mention him because I knew Horace couldn't see him anyway. The entire room had a creepy vibe, but I would put up with anything to find Yurick and the others. I walked around the room and found another mirror on the other side of the bed. _Maybe if I'm taken I'll find them. _

I looked around a little more before I touched the mirror, partially to decide whether or not it would be smart to do so. I found a book on the bedside table, but as I reached out for it I heard Horace scream and glass shatter….. again….

There were two more skeletons to fight. I defeated one of them easily, but Horace was injured. I ran over to help as the second attacked me. I fought him over to the other side of the room and defeated him as well, but I was too late. The one from the mirror had taken him. The little boy was laughing, still.

I was all alone, wondering whether or not I would be taken, too, or whether or not I would want to be. I ran back over to the book, hoping in some wild side of my imagination that it might have a clue in it. I was desperate at the point.

_Diary of the lady of the house 10 September_

_I am increasingly unable to understand what he is thinking. Even at meals, he is rude and makes no secret of his hostility towards the master. Oh, how I wish that he would put an end to his thoughtless ways. _

I skimmed the next few pages.

_12 October_

_The servant, Henrietta, is no longer at the house. Upon asking my husband why, he said he had expelled her due to rudeness. What's going on? She is the fourth servant he has let go this year. They all left without removing their effects from their room or bidding me farewell. What could possibly have happened to all of those young women? _

Now I was getting somewhere. People going missing.

_17__th__ October_

_The deeds in which he engaged in that room were truly abhorrent! He is pure evil! I detest him from the core of my very being! _

That was even more confusing than I thought it would be. I wondered what acts this man caused, and whether or not it was the husband or the master. I couldn't think of how it related to my problem so I ran, with the book in hand, towards the mirror. I touched it, but nothing happened. I stared into it like I did before, but nothing happened. _WHERE ARE YOU?! _

I ran back out into the hallway. There was nowhere else to check but that grave yard that Horace had pointed to earlier. As I ran towards the door, a sword from a crest on the wall flew towards me. I dodged quickly yelling, "Not funny! Who does these things?!" I felt that heart attack Yurick had mentioned before. _Oh no. Yurick._ My heart was going to shrivel up and die. I had to find him. I ran faster towards the door. "Man eating mansion…. This place gives me the creeps…" The door to the grave yard opened by itself. I hesitated, then ran through, hoping for the best.

The first thing I saw was a circle of coffins. "Coffins, lucky me." I ran around the yard until I saw that one of the coffins was opened slightly. I pushed the top off and found…. "DAGRAN!"

He sighed, "The bastard caught me off guard, is all." He wondered into the center of the circle and looked around. I gave him a quick, very unmanly hug and sighed with relief. He didn't complain. He was probably pretty freaked out, but wouldn't admit it on his life.

_If he was in one then the others are probably here, too! _ I opened the next one, going counter clockwise. "Lowell, are you okay?"

"I'm not bad. Old Black Bones must be off parting with the other skeletons." He laughed.

I rolled my eyes and opened the next one. An armed skeleton jumped out at me. "Ah!" I yelled, hitting it with my sword. Lowell and Dagran laughed at me. I killed it as easily as the others and continued to open the rest of the six coffins. _Yurick, where are you…_

The next one had Yurick in it. "Yurick," I could barely speak. I was so relieved that he was okay. I pulled him into me and held him for as long as I could. "Thank god you're alright. I was so worried," I whispered to his hair.

He was shaking so much. "I-I- I'm fine." He wrapped his arms around me as I pulled him out of the cold stone case. "Thank you. Are you alright?" I nodded and just held him.

Lowell opened the second to last coffin to find an explosion, which we all laughed at as his face was covered in ash. He smirked and wiped his face. Then in the very last one we found Horace. "You alright there, mate?"

"Th-Thank you!" He was shaking so much that Dagran had to lift him out of the coffin.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you might want to look at this." Lowell was staring at a tomb stone. We walked over to see what he was looking at.

_Here lies Lowell_

I walked around and saw that all of the stones were like that. "Zael, Yurick, Lowell, Syrenne, Dagran, Mirania, Horace, and Meredith." I stopped in front of the one I did not recognize.

Horace ran over to me, "Meredith!" he cried as he fell to his knees in front of the stone. _Must be his wife. Speaking of wife…_ I walked back over to Yurick and stood right behind him, which was good because he looked like he was about to faint from seeing his own name on one of the stones. I placed my hands on his hips and held him up right.

"My only concern about this is how they had Mirania and Syrenne's names." Dagran walked around the yard again. "What's this?" he bent down and grabbed a pair of glasses.

"Those belong to my Meredith!" Horace cried, again falling to his knees, the glasses clutched in his hands. "Please, Master Zael, you have to save my dear, sweet, Meredith!"

I sighed. "I know, just calm down. We should head back inside."

As we headed back towards the door, Lowell said, "You look moody, Dagran. What's up? Oh yeah, didn't you promise Mirania…"

"I said," Dagran cut him off, "I'd buy her all the muffins she wanted after that last fight, the pig."

"Come on, mate, what girl's gonna like you if you act like that?" Lowell put a hand on his shoulder and winked. "You made a promise, so you keep it."

Dagran looked at him like he was stupid. "She ate 214 of them!"

Lowell looked intrigued and I just snickered and kept walking. "I see… Oh my, she can really put it away, can't she?"

Yurick turned quickly towards them, "Can we forget about that now? Let's just finish this and get the bloody hell out of here!"

I smiled at him from behind Dagran's shoulder.

"That's right! We need to save Meredith!" we all looked over in surprise to see Horace too eager to continue into this house. I wondered if it was to save her or his own arse.

"Right, back on track." I stopped when I saw the boy walking down the hallway towards a door. My eyes followed him.

"What is it, Zael?" Dagran turned to me. I shook my head and followed the boy, even though it looked like I was leading the way to the rest of them.

The next room was yet another bedroom with a fairly large bookcase and another large bed. The only difference in this room was that the bookcase looked like it could be moved. There was a groan coming from the other side of it.

"It might me Meredith!" Horace yelled.

I ran my hand over the wall next to it. "A key hole? There must be a key somewhere."

"Well let's find it then," Yurick pushed open the next door which led to a balcony.

I shrugged and followed him. I wanted him out of here just as much as he did.

Out on the balcony, the black skeleton came back. "Shit, he's back!" Yurick yelled.

Dagran, Lowell and I jumped in front of him and began attacking. I kept Yurick behind me, terrified to lose him again. With the three of us, it didn't take long at all to kill him so we continued on to the next door. This one was a main room. Sort of like a lounge. It had two couches and a small table and a decorative rug. We searched around the room for anything that might house a key. On the table, we found another book. Yurick picked it up, opening to a random page and read:

_Diary of Master Denos 12__th__ November_

_The lord is truly despicable! I will make him pay for what he has done! The time of the ritual is near. Now I need only to prepare the sacrifices and wait. _

"Sacrifices?!" Yurick paused. Dagran grunted and searched around more.

_3__rd__ December_

_His demands grow daily. That demon has already been offered four lives! But it will not be long now. Soon I shall be immortal and command an entire legion of the undead! _

Yurick's hands were shaking. I stood next to him and read over his shoulder.

_24__th__ December _

_I do not know who I am anymore. I have offered all that I can offer. Even the lives of my family! I feel that I have now become inseparable from that demon. My soul is corrupted and my heart darker even than the night of a new moon. There can be no turning back. I shall now do the one thing that remains to be done. I shall offer up this mortal body and fulfill the eternal curse. _

"What the hell?" Lowell crossed his arms. "That man is off his rocker."

"We should continue," Yurick stood by the next door until we were all near, and then opened it slowly. It led back to the grand hall that we first entered. In the middle, there was the broken chandelier with…. Something shiny… I approached it slowly and saw that it was a key.

"I found a key!" I held it up in front of me to show the others. Yurick was pointing behind me again. I sighed and turned quickly, drawing my sword, just in time to see… a suit of armour? "What the-." It swung at me. I blocked. "How did I guess these things would move?! They're so creepy!" The others joined me as more of them came out of the alcoves, _all _of the alcoves, to fight us.

"Zael, have you seen something like this before?" Dagran asked, fighting two at a time.

"A sword hanging on the wall in the hallway flew at me before I found you," I broke one of the pieces of metal and it fell to the floor. Then I turned to the next one.

"Looks like the sword was for starters. Now we're getting the full course!" He charged at a suit and it, too, fell to the floor.

"What's this light?!" Yurick pointed to a blue ball that left a suit of armour and possessed the next.

"I think it's a soul," I replied while trying to avoid being thrown on the floor. "Every time we break one of these things, it flies up to the next one that wants to kill us."

"If we smash the suits first, the lights won't be able to use any of them," Yurick began to fight another one with his fire circles.

"Then we'll just have to destroy all of the armour!" Dagran lunged and took out another suit.

I ran around the room looking for the suits that hadn't been possessed yet and destroyed them. "Can you hold them off while I do this?" I pulled out my cross bow after knocking down all of the ground level ones.

"Yeah sure, take your sweet time," Lowell replied sarcastically.

"Thank you," I hid behind one of the pillars and fired burst arrows at the unused suits. Each one crashed to the ground. One of them I shot at a bad time. Yurick had been cornered and I didn't see him there until I saw the course of the falling shield. "YURICK!" I ran towards him and was able to knock him out of the way just in time to have it fall on me instead. I fell to the floor, the heavy iron shield on my back. "Ah, that hurt," I murmured. I tried to get up but the shield was extremely heavy. Either that or my back was broken, but I hoped that it wasn't the latter.

"You idiot! Hold on!" He cast a fire circle that kept the armour away from us by a small distance, but it was enough. He bent down to me and pushed the shield off of me. Then he wrapped my arm around his neck and pulled me to my feet, but I couldn't stand, so I just fell right back down, pulling him with me. He leaned me against the wall. "Shit, what made you do that?"

"It was about to fall on you because I wasn't paying attention. I couldn't let that happen." I smiled at him.

"You really are an idiot," he ran a hand through my hair.

"I have a favour to ask," he nodded at me, "will you hand me my crossbow?"

He rolled his eyes. "You are in no condition to fight right now." I gave him my best stubborn 'I'm not going to do as you say' look. "Fine." He handed it to me and I pulled my quiver off of my belt.

"I can still hit the armour this way." I pulled it up to my face and targeted the nearest suit, breaking it to pieces. He shrugged and began casting again, but as he made another circle, the one we were in disappeared.

"I can't! If I keep attacking them, I can't protect you." He looked back down at me and cast the circle around us again.

I shot at the two suits right outside the circle, causing them to back up, but not breaking them. "I can hold them back as well. You do what you need to."

He nodded reluctantly and the circle around us disappeared again. I shot the last few suits in my field of vision and started shooting at the ones who came to close to Yurick. His fire knock out a few more and Lowell and Dagran began teaming up on the last few until they were all gone. I dropped my bow on my lap and panted. It hurt my shoulder more than I thought it would have.

"Zael, are you okay?" Dagran kneeled next to me and placed my bow on the other side of me so I wouldn't accidentally shoot my foot.

"Here's the key. Go save her, then come back for me. I just need to rest for a minute. I'll be right behind you."

He nodded then stood and pulled Lowell and Horace out of the room with him. Yurick kneeled down and kissed my forehead. It was extremely warm and it coursed through my entire body. I smiled at him.

"Keep this with you. I don't trust this place." He put my crossbow back on my lap and propped my quiver on my leg so I could reach it easier. "I love you."

"I love you more."

He ran off after the others.

_**Side-Note: Again, I want to apologise for the idiotic mistake of messing up these chapters. I had switched thumb drives in the middle of writing them and I guess they just didn't transfer correctly. so the chapter 15 that you thought was chapter 15 was actually chapter 17... brilliant, right?... very sorry, again. please continue enjoying and reading.**_


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 - Y**

I hated leaving him back there alone, but I knew the others would need me and Zael would never forgive me if Dagran was injured in any way. We ran back to where the bookshelf was and, once again, were surrounded by bats. _God damn theses bloody creatures!_ Horace took the key and did some weird turn of it in the wall and the bookshelf lowered into the floor. We ran inside the room to see Meredith tied up by what looked like… energy chains… or Ghost Chains… She looked as if she hadn't eaten in days. She probably hadn't.

Horace tried to touch her but was thrown backwards by some sort of force, knocking him unconscious in the room. Then some crazy glowing skeleton, tomb stone, demon looking thing, came out of the room.

"What the hell is that?" Lowell asked as it spun dangerously around the room.

"Is it a coffin? A skeleton?" I asked, not being able to tell just by looking.

Horace, apparently able to talk but not move, informed us that it was called Nebirous. "How could this be?"

"This is a what?" Lowell asked, but then apparently didn't care enough to receive a reply.

"He was supposed to be killed centuries ago!" Horace yelled.

"What are you talking about, old man?" I asked.

"I told you, I am an archaeologist." He started.

"What does that have to do with this giant glowing rock thing that is attacking us right now?" I interrupted.

"I've seen this thing in text books." He informed.

It started towards him as he tried to get up. "Stay down, Horace. We'll deal with this. By the way, did your text book tell you how to kill it?" Dagran yelled.

"Nebirous is immortal… but there may be a way to destroy him." Horace was taking his sweet time telling us. _Oh, great. It's immortal… and there _may _be a way to kill it…_

"Get on with it! What do we do?" Then I thought about Zael. "We can't let it run around the house so the quicker you tell us, the quicker we end this!"

"It's slipped my mind!" he whined.

"Of course it did," I muttered.

"We're not making a dent. Retreat for now." Dagran ordered.

"No! Dagran, we can't allow it to get near Zael. He isn't in any condition to fight right now!" I grabbed his arm.

"We can't hurt it! It's just not fair!" Lowell shouted. We ran out towards the balcony. "Maybe if we offer it Horace, it'll give him his wife back."

"I'm trying to remember! Please wait!" Horace shouted after us.

"He must have a weakness, Horace, come on!" I followed Lowell down the balcony, but I didn't want to lead it towards Zael. I stopped and cast a circle, but I wasn't sure if it would even do anything since the thing already seemed to be on fire. I ran towards the thing and tried to lead it the other way. Lowell followed me and called for Dagran, who followed as well.

"What the devil are you doing, Yurick?" Dagran shouted as he followed after me.

I kept running, slowing every now and then to make sure it was going to keep following me. "It can't be near him. I won't let it!" I continued to run until the end of the hallway where there were only two rooms until the grand hall and turned around so it would continue the wild goose chase. "This is the best thing I can think of until Horace tells us what's going on!"

Lowell shrugged and joined me. "It's a good work out."

Dagran just stood there looking at us like we were stupid for running up and down the hallway. "I don't know what's worse, the fact that you are running in circles or the fact that it's chasing you."

I turned around to a cry of pain from the demon thing and saw that it was no longer shiny and on fire. It was black and running scared. Dagran and Lowell charged at it, seeing that it was weakened by something. I looked around it and saw Zael leaned up against the opposite wall with his cross bow. He was panting. I ran passed the now venerable demon and helped Zael stand.

"What are you doing? You're not supposed to be up!" I yelled at him with care.

"I told you," he paused to breathe. He was sweating, too. "I'd be right behind you." He smiled weakly and fell to the floor, with me, again.

"Rest." I tried to maneuver him so he was more comfortable. "By the way, how did you know that arrow would work? What type of arrow was it?"

He held up a beautifully carved arrow with the smoothest head I had ever seen. "Silver arrows are really rare because they are really strong and durable." He smiled again, "I just guessed, but that ass is going to have to give every single one that I fire back to me. They're expensive and I didn't want to have to use them."

I was going to keep talking to him, but the Nebirous was on fire again and began attacking back. Zael held up his crossbow again and, like always, hit the target right in the chest. Its flames disappeared again and it began to run.

"You know, it's pretty sexy how you don't even miss when you're injured." I whispered to his ear.

"You think?" he smiled that cocky smile that I only saw when he bragged about things.

I nodded and bit my lip, looking him in the eyes. He looked so tired though. "How did you know we were over here?"

He shook his head. "You're going to thing this sounds crazy, but that little boy showed me," he pointed towards the far wall. "He also showed me where some extra arrows were."

I followed his finger to 'look at the boy'. "Thank you," I said even though I couldn't see him.

"Zael! One more time, please!" Dagran yelled as he was shoved into a wall.

He lifted his crossbow again and took another shot. He hit Nebirous in the back of what we thought was the head and it screeched in pain again. This time when Dagran and Lowell attacked it, I sent flames to their swords.

"Immortality makes you this stubborn?" Dagran asked as he slashed and stabbed.

"He must have eaten tons of people to get this powerful," I said with a shiver. I wasn't as scared anymore. Zael, even though he was injured, was the most powerful assurance that I could have ever had. That and I just wanted this all to be over so I could get him out of here.

"If we kill this thing, Meredith'll be safe, right? Then we can get out of here?" Zael scratched his nose, "I'm sick of all these bats."

I laughed. _Me too._

"That's more like it. It's a man's job to save a damsel in distress!" Lowell ran towards us to trap the thing between the two of them.

"Zael!" Dagran shouted again.

He shot again, narrowly missing Lowell's head.

"Whoa, mate! Watch it!" Lowell shouted, putting his hand to his ear. "I need that!"

"I wasn't going to hit you as long as you didn't move in front of me," he smiled.

I thought about how crazy our group was and why I ended up loving it so much even though I always said I hated them.

"Yurick, do me a favor, would ya?" Lowell asked as the arrow hit the demon, causing it to screech again. I nodded. "Fuse magic with me for the blades." I nodded again and we both cast our elements onto his and Dagran's swords. A fire and ice blend usually dealt twice the damage. They both charged for it and smacked it around a few more times until it cried out so loudly, I swore my ears would bleed. It fell to the ground and exploded into a giant cloud of purple smoke.

"It's dead?" I perked up. "We can go home! Woo!" I threw one arm up in the air.

"He's a little scamp, isn't he?" Lowell laughed.

Dagran ran over to us and helped me get Zael to his feet. "Couldn't have done it without you, mate." He hugged him lightly.

"What about Meredith?" Zael asked, trying to walk.

"Umm… well, Horace seems to be having a moment with his wife so we should probably leave them be for now." Dagran said awkwardly.

We helped Zael walk back to the grand hall and found Horace, who introduced us all to his wife, who seemed too good for him, but hey, love is love.

Lowell teased me some more about how I screamed and sounded like a coward and so on and so forth. After a while we left.

"Man-eating mansion, huh? Nothing to it." I joked.

"Oh, so you weren't flapping about screaming like a little girl, then?" Lowell poked back.

"Me? Scream? No idea what you're talking about." I saw Zael smile and look the other way. I knew he was laughing at me, too, but him I don't mind.

"You, uh, pissed your pants there." Lowell pointed to my trousers.

"What?" I looked down, "I don't think so. It's sweat." I argued.

At last the night in the haunted mansion was over.

"I don't know what or who that boy was," Zael whispered, seemingly to himself, but since he was on my shoulder, I heard him. "But I think he's resting in peace now. This mansion seems calmer. I don't think strange things will happen here anymore." He looked seriously down at the ground. I kissed his cheek and we walked, almost silently, back to the tavern.

When we reached the tavern, Mirania immediately ran over everyone else there to see what was wrong with Zael.

"I just need a good rest," he said.

"I can do some recovery magic, if you want."

"No, Mirania, but thank you." He looked up at me, "Can you help me up the stairs?"

I smiled. "Of course, but first…" I looked over at Syrenne. "Hey, Syrenne. Lowell tried to get you eaten. He said you had some 'real prime beef'." I really wanted to see her hit him.

She stood up, nearly falling over from how drunk she was. "You bloomin' bastard. To cowardly to let yourself get eaten? Had to offer up a woman, hmm? Well, I thought you were a lady's man. I guess I'll have to teach you a thing or two on how to treat a woman!" I saw Lowell back up as she approached him with mug in hand and that was good enough for me. I helped Zael up the stairs and to our room.

"Yurick," he started as I set him on the bed, "I need to rest, but…" he groaned as I laid him down and pulled off his boots. "I don't want to be alone tonight." I smiled sincerely and helped him out of his armour, but not his clothes. I didn't want him to get cold tonight.

"I'll stay. It's not like I have anything more important than taking care of you." He smiled back and I ran a hand through his hair, feeling how soft it was mixed with the feathers he always wore.

"I mean _with_ me. It's going to be cold tonight." He rubbed his hand along my arm. "I don't want you to be cold."

"I don't think Dagran-," I started.

"I don't care. I felt like I lost you today and my heart was ripped out. I need to recover from that." He met my gaze, "I need you."

I sighed and took off my armour and boots as well. Then I pulled the blanket over him and climbed into the small bed with him, my head on his chest and my arms around his neck. I felt his arms wrap around my waist and, I must have been more exhausted than I thought, I fell asleep.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 - Z**

The next morning was almost the same as yesterday. The only things that were different was that, one, Yurick was still sleeping on my chest when I woke up, two, some man was babbling about how some cloaked man did something, and three, everyone seemed to be worried that I would collapse or something, whereas their caring meters were on an all-time low for the past month (with the exception of Mirania, of course). I told them last night that I just needed to rest. I felt right as rain… whatever that means.

I talked to Dagran downstairs. "Good, Zael. I'm glad to see you back on your feet." I was about to reply and say 'thank you for carrying me back', but he added, "Now I need you to get those upgrades that you failed to get yesterday." I was going to object. _It wasn't my fault she got kidnapped! _ "Now, I know that the mansion ordeal got in the way, but it doesn't change the fact that our swords need to be repaired."

I nodded compliantly and walked out the door. Luckily, Horace's shop was just around the corner. I opened the door to find a cheerful couple holding each other. I smiled.

"Master Zael! I can't thank you enough!" He jumped towards me like a hyper child, "I have decided to give up archaeology," he sounded mellow again. "No more adventuring for me! I will stay here, with my Meredith." I was jealous. I wished I could have just given up everything and just stayed with Yurick for the rest of my life, but being a mercenary got us money to support ourselves. It may not have been the best life, but at least it was one.

"Horace, dear, didn't you want to tell him something?" Meredith was still holding on to his arm. Her voice was soft and sweet. _She's not the type I would expect to be married to someone like Horace…_

He nodded eagerly, "Did you hear about what has been going on by the well in the east corner of town?"

"No. I can't say that I have," I cocked my head in curiosity. "What about it?"

"You know where the Reptids were hiding underground?" I nodded. "Well, there is a small tunnel that leads to the well." He paused. "Naturally, when I heard, I ran over to see what it was about," he looked down and muttered, "and I seemed to have dropped a very valuable book down there."

"Let me guess, the Reptids took it and you want me to go down there to get it back for you." I shifted my weight.

He smiled, "You're very sharp. Would you please?"

I hesitated, thinking of what happened last time I helped this guy.

"The book has notes in it on how to fix a cursed blade," Meredith added. "A cursed blade holds a lot of power that could assist you later."

I shrugged. "Dagran should go for that. Alright, but first I do need to upgrade these." I put 5 swords on the counter.

"I'm so sorry that you keep getting mixed up in my husband's madcap schemes like this," she gave me a smile then started moving the swords. "We will charge you the lowest we can afford," Meredith said. I smiled at her and nodded a thank you.

When the upgrades were complete, I ran back to the tavern to return the weapons to their respective owners and told Dagran about the new quest.

"He took her, I tell you!" the babbling man screamed, "I'm the worst father in the world!"

Dagran and I stared at the man then continued our original conversation.

"Go on your own. It doesn't seem like a task to get my hands dirtied with," he said as he leaned against the wall.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Fine then, I'll go alone." I turned and left the tavern. I started towards the eastern part of the town, passing through the market and a few back alley ways. I heard a small boy teasing a little girl and saw a cat run across a few roofs. The day seemed like nothing special, but it was peaceful. On my way through the market towards where the fountain was, I was tapped on the shoulder. I spun around quickly.

"Master Zael, Count Arganan has summoned you to the castle. Please go as soon as possible," a knight said stiffly then saluted me and marched away.

"Okay then," I muttered. _Like that's going to happen any time soon. _That guy had something about him that just wasn't easy to trust. That and I was trying to avoid the matter of Calista. _It's not that I don't like her, but…_

I continued towards the fountain. When I got there, the first thing I saw was a bunch of children merrily skipping about. Then I looked closer and saw a dark hooded figure walking down a small alley. I followed him. "Who's that?"

He turned and smiled at me. I looked closer and, for a second, I could have sworn it was Jirall. I continued after him, following him down a back alley with only a few doors. The closer I got to him, the faster he walked until he was in a complete sprint. I ran after him, trying not to lose his trail. Finally he stopped and entered a smaller, and seemingly less popular, tavern and, naturally, I followed. It was called _the Flame & Lizard._

It was busier than I would have expected for such an isolated tavern, but the mood was colder. The men were fighting, the children spinning and playing, and the women looked bored to tears. _That man has to be here somewhere._ I looked around and found him standing idly by two drunkards. _There he is. _Then he walked over to the bar. Except for the cape, he looked like a pretty normal, and not suspicious at all, man. _Maybe he's the one who took that girl that the old man was ranting about._ I approached him slowly. It was just a hunch, but why else would he be acting weird.

"What do you want?" he said with a deep grinding voice.

"That girl you kidnapped, I'm going to get her back," I wasn't even positive that this was the guy so I decided to bluff and see if I was right. If I wasn't I would play it off like I was crazy.

"Quite cocky, aren't you? But you're out of your league. No-one gets in our way and lives." His voice grew louder, but no-one else seemed to notice… until he pulled out a sword.

_This is definitely the guy._ I snickered and drew my newly upgraded Paladin. Every guard in the room ran towards me as well. I figured it would be fun, so I waited for all of them to surround me then ducked and swung my blade in a circle, knocking all of them down. It seemed as if the place was having a usual business day. The majority of the people moved to the sides of the room, but continued to fool around and dance while the bar maiden cleaned a glass like it was the only important thing in the world.

One of the guards charged at me with his sword in hand, but missed and broke one of the few tables, sending wood chips and planks flying in every direction. I knocked him unconscious by the hilt of my sword on the back of his helmet. I ran towards the cloaked man and met his blade with my own. It was a power struggle that seemed harder than it actually was. I pushed them towards his face, opening a small cut in his cheek. Then he matched my strength and pushed me back, causing us to break apart. I raised my sword again and he ran towards the stairs. I hurried after him, but was blocked by the rest of the guards.

Just then the door to the tavern opened with a loud bang. I debated whether to look and risk getting struck down while I wasn't paying attention or to strike them while they stared at the door. I didn't need to turn. I already knew who it was when he spoke.

"Zael, you know, if you wanted a drink, you could have stayed at Aeriela's tavern. This place is a dump," Dagran snickered as he pulled out his sword. "You seem to be doing pretty well on your own. Maybe we should leave." He smirked.

"Hope you don't mind us lot barging in anyway," Syrenne sounded sober enough to fight at least.

"I don't know. He still seems reckless as ever. Maybe we _should_ leave." Yurick wasn't joking, or if he was he sounded very cold. _Did I do something wrong?_

"It's a raid! On the ground floor!" a voice shouted from the balcony. Everyone in the room and all of the guards that had blocked me ran out of the tavern behind Dagran and the others, but not even a few seconds after, the lower floor was surrounded by the guards from upstairs and, apparently, the back room from behind the bar. The bar maiden froze and slowly exited the room.

"You're gonna regret comin' 'ere!" one of them yelled.

"This is getting serious," I muttered with a chuckle.

"I do believe it is you who is going to regret letting us in here in the first place," Dagran laughed.

"We'll show you terror like you've never known!" another guard added with a sort of grunt as he charged Dagran, who quickly cut him down.

I laughed at how idiotic the verbal attacks were then looked around to assess the situation. "He looks like the leader," I pointed to the last guard that came from behind the bar. He, too, had an eye patch. It was the first thing I noticed about him. "If we take him, the rest will be plain sailing."

"Right, let's get busy, shall we!" Syrenne ran into a fight with two of the guards, hitting them at the same time with her swords. She was the only warrior I knew that could easily and swiftly handle two huge blades at the same time. Sometimes I agreed with Lowell that she was too much of a man to be a woman, but unlike him, I would never say it aloud. I like my head where it is.

"Dagran, are we alright using magic here?" Yurick asked.

I stood my ground in the centre of the room near the door and waited for the three men coming at me.

"These idiot soldiers can pay for it. Fill your boots!" He replied while blocking.

I braced myself as I blocked the first attack and countered quickly.

Syrenne began laughing like a mad woman. I thought she had finally lost her senses, when she said, "Oh look, it's my favorite brandy!"

I rolled my eyes and continued to knock out guard by guard.

"Don't tell me you're gonna take it," Dagran glanced at her.

When the third one dodged the counter, I slashed towards him, causing him to fall into one of Yurick's flaming circles.

She smirked in that way when she was about to do one of two things; hit Lowell or drink until she fell unconscious. "You know me so well. I'm gonna get so hammered tonight!"She laughed again.

"Then let's finish this and get out of here. I don't want to do anything today," Yurick groaned. _What's up with him today?_

Sure enough, the guards were all taken out shortly after the fight even started. Why mercenaries were looked down upon was beyond me. Our fighting skills were almost unmatched.

"So why are you here? I thought you told me to do these 'miniscule tasks' on my own," I turned to Dagran.

"A man back at the tavern was rambling about something so I finally told him to shut up. He told me he wouldn't rest until someone found his daughter. He was even going to pay for it," he responded. _Money… that explains everything._ "We saw you running down here so we followed you. You know the well isn't anywhere near the fountain, don't you?"

"I saw a cloaked man on my way there and decided to follow him for the same reason you left the tavern. Only I -," I started.

"If anything related to the word 'free' comes out of your mouth, I will personally execute you." Dagran glared at me. "Nothing is free, Zael."

There was a stiff silence before he suggested we go upstairs to look for the robed man.

"I'll scout ahead," I pushed passed my brother towards the stairs, "see what's up."

Dagran replied with an 'I'm the big shot' tone, "Okay, we'll keep watch," like it was the more important job of the two.

"There's not much point in me going up there. Tight spaces and fireballs don't usually mix well." Yurick propped himself against the wall and turned his head from me. _What did I do?_

I shook it off and ran up the stairs to find a door. I opened it a crack and saw two guards standing near the railing.

"Why's it so quiet?! There's nobody here!" one said.

"What's going on?" the other one added.

I smirked to myself, thinking of my next move. I cracked the door enough so my crossbow could fit through and shot both of them in the back of the thigh, causing them to fall over the railing. I put my bow back and tried to hide a smile.

"Throwing henchmen over a banister is not scouting." Yurick stood behind me with a hand on his hip and rolled his eye.

"Having a little fun without us, love?" Syrenne walked through the door smiling.

"Ah, there's another door. I'll check this one." Once again the 'I'm the big bad' attitude. _I love him, but that is _really_ starting to annoy me._

"Syrenne, want to check the other one with me?" I pointed to another door across from Dagran's.

"Let's do it." She followed me.

The first thing we saw upon entering was three more guards.

"We won't let you stop the ceremony!"

_Ceremony? What the hell is he blabbing about? Is that why they took the girl?_

Syrenne stepped forward with a smirk. "You had your fun. Let me handle these guys." I raise my hands in a 'have at it' motion.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 - Y**

I couldn't believe he chose to go with Syrenne over me. _Going with Dagran would be one thing, but Syrenne?! Really? _ Maybe I was being too much a jealous futz.

When Dagran opened the door, we only found one guard, who was taken down easily, and a door with red markings on it, but I didn't really pay any mind to it. As the man hit the ground, something shiny fell from his armour.

"What's this?" Dagran picked it up. "It's a key. We better go back and show the others." I nodded, trying to hide my irritation, and we went back out to the hallway, but on the way out I tripped over something, probably the guard, and fell against the doorframe. _No-one saw that_. I stood up quickly and attempted to regain my composer.

"Dagran!" Zael jumped as they ran into each other around the corner. "We found a locked door."

"Funny. I just happen to have a key. Now, only one door left." He walked passed them and into the other room.

"Awe, you two are like brothers. Brings tears to my eye." Syrenne said sarcastically.

"Give it a rest, Syrenne," Dagran smiled. _He actually knows how to smile? Wow._ "There's something I want you two to take a look at."

"Okay, let's go check it out." Syrenne followed behind him into the room Dagran and I had just come out of. _He smiled….._ I shivered. He showed them the other door in the room. There was a big red pentagram on it. "Here it is. There's got to be something in there."

"It seems like it, but there's no way we're getting in through here," Zael pushed against the door. The magic must have been a sort of barrier spell.

"Then we'll have to find another way in," Dagran retorted.

"How about trying the door that Zael and I found?" Syrenne sounded like it was the obvious choice.

"Let's go then," Dagran shoved passed everyone again and led us to the door in the back of the other room.

Sure enough, the key worked and the door swung open.

Zael peeked his head through the doorway. "Nobody here." We started to move through the door when he put an arm out in front of us. "Wait, the shutter's moving."

"Zael, we might be able to get to the next room from the outside," Dagran followed him.

Syrenne put a hand on her hip. "Quite an... acrobatic plan, don't you think?"

Zael opened the window and jumped out. I jumped and ran towards the window thinking 'My god, what an idiot!' I leaned out to see where he was and saw that he had grabbed onto the ledge underneath. He was already making his way towards the next window over. _He's going to scare me to death one day._

It was already dark outside. I couldn't believe we had been there for so long.

"Get in from the outside and open the door for us," Dagran told him from behind me, then he and Syrenne had already started running around to the previous door.

I whispered, "God damn it, Zael," out of frustration then turned to exit the room. I thought he had fallen two stories and broken a leg, or worse. _That bastard makes me crazy. I swear I'm losing my mind._

When I reached the pompous idiot and the drunken woman, they were making their usual jabs at each other about drinking and being self-absorbed, etc. I leaned against the wall and rolled my eyes. _Seriously, I'm the youngest here and yet I act more mature than they ever will._

"Somebody, help me!" It sounded like a little girl's voice. It was muffled so it must have been coming through the door. The three of us stood at attention and waited for Zael to open the door. Then we heard her scream.

"Damn it, Zael, open the bloody door!" Syrenne yelled, banging the hilt of her sword on the door. Just as she hit it for the last time, the seal faded and the door flung open to reveal a small blonde girl. She was terrified out of her wits, as she should have been. We rushed in quickly, but only helped take out one last guard.

"Zael, are you alright?" Dagran ran straight to him, completely ignoring the girl that was shaking behind me.

He nodded then pointed to the girl, who apparently had grappled onto my cloak. "The question is, is she?" She was definitely scared.

"Th-thanks for saving me. Wh-who are you?" She was looking at Zael and Dagran, but it seemed like she didn't even notice I was there, except to hide behind.

"Your dad asked us to help you," Zael extended a hand to her, but she didn't take it.

"Oh," she looked at the floor, "I see. I'd better get home and let him know I'm alright. He must be so worried." I could feel her grip tighten and she bit her lip. Then she looked up and around at all of us.

Dagran cast a sigh of what I assumed was relief. "Then we're off, too."

Then Syrenne said something about drinking her spoils and began to walk downstairs, I assumed, to get that brandy she saw earlier. Dagran followed after her, but Zael and I had a moment of awkward silence there alone. I stared at him with an irritated glare. Then the little girl half dragged me out of the room backwards before I could speak my mind. Zael gave me a smile, which I quickly returned hoping it looked as genuine as I meant it, then followed after us.

When we got down the stairs, an extremely difficult task going backwards I might add, she let go of me just enough for me to turn around, then she grabbed my hand. I gave her a comforting grin and let her stand as close as she wanted to me. I really didn't like kids, but she was decently calm for someone who was just kidnapped and used in some crazy ritual. Then I felt a tingling in the hand that she held. She smiled up at me as I looked at my hand. There were blood stains, but no wound. Then I felt it. She was a healing mage, like Mirania. I nodded at her in thanks. _When did I cut myself? _ I remembered when I fell against the doorframe. _Oh… then._ _How embarrassing._

We walked the girl home and she finally let go of me to run inside and jump into her father's arms. After making sure she had arrived safely, we went back to our tavern. Zael and I walked a little slower than the others.

"I'm still displeased with you," I said with a huff. He had left me that morning without telling me where he was going, when I found out where he was he was being reckless, and he barely acknowledged me the whole time we were in that dump of a tavern. Then he jumped out of a window and scared me half to death.

He completely ignored my statement. "I didn't know you were that good with kids," he smiled.

"Yeah, neither did I- Hey! Don't change the subject!" I snapped at him.

He walked closer to me making our shoulders rub together. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you today."

I pushed him away from me slightly and yelled in a whisper, "First of all, wake me up instead of moving me next time. Second, thanks for not telling me where you were today! It's not like I was worried or anything, especially because you were injured yesterday. Third, you chose to go with Syrenne? What was that about?"

He put his index finger to my lips before I could continue and rested his other hand on my shoulder, stopping me from walking. "First," he said with a slight grin, "I didn't want to wake you 'cuz you looked too cute sleeping there, but I'll wake you up next time. Second, I'm sorry for not telling you and thank you for caring about me." He dropped both of his hands and just looked down at me. _His eyes are so beautiful. _"Third, I chose to go with Syrenne because she has needed a break from Dagran recently."

"Don't we all," I muttered.

He gave a slight nod of agreement followed by a second guessing look, which I assumed meant he was thinking 'wait, he's my brother and I shouldn't be mean'. He pulled me into his arms and tilted my chin upwards, leading to a very warm and passionate kiss. I was surprised he kissed me in public. I knew it was dark, but there were still people passing by. Then again, I didn't care that much so I closed my eyes and pretended like we were the only ones there. When we broke apart he smiled and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Still upset?"

I smiled back with a glare and held up my thumb and forefinger showing that I was still a little upset, but now I was just teasing him. _How in the world can he make me calm when I angry with him? It's not fair._

"If you two are done mackin' on each other, can we go back now?" Syrenne had been a few meters in front of us and had left Dagran walking by himself. She smiled, waved us on, and turned around. I found myself blushing as I walked towards her and away from Zael. I put a hand to my lips. I still felt the warm tenderness of the kiss. I smiled.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 - Z**

It was a pretty nice morning. Syrenne was still drinking from the night before and I was surprised she hadn't slept (my nice way of saying that she hadn't passed out). Dagran was polishing the ceremonial sword that we had gotten as kids. Even though I know it means the world to both of us because it symbolizes a dream, I swear he has an unhealthy addiction to prettying that thing. It's like the only coping skill he has left.

When I finished a quick breakfast, I noticed that Yurick and Dagran actually seemed to be having a good conversation. They were standing in the corner by the door and Yurick seemed pretty animated, which was odd in front of the others. I didn't want to break the only time that they may ever get along, so I smiled to both of them and went out for a walk.

I was right. The morning was beautiful. The doves and pidgins hopping around and being chased by cats and kids were playing in the circle and by the river. I walked through the market and smelt the aromas of the fresh bread and soups dancing together in the light breeze. This was really peaceful. I thought about the day before. It was almost mad to think that such a lovely city had such horrid people in it, but I guess what they say is true. The brighter the light, the darker the shadows.

I sat on the edge of the fountain. It was becoming my new favourite place because of how nice it was to watch the kids play and just see the town function. A man was repairing part of a building and his son was helping him. It made me wish I had kept my family, but at the same time, if I hadn't lost them, I wouldn't have met my brother or the love of my life. _Would I have been better off if I hadn't ever needed to meet them?_ Life had many unanswered questions. I stared at the water as it flowed from the small holes in the stone to the pool below.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" I heard a voice from behind. Startled, I turned quickly to see that lovely white hair and blue jacket. "I figured you may want to be alone, but I wanted to see what was making you so serene. It's kind of attractive, you're distant side," he smiled with a wink and sat next to me.

I blushed a little bit, "I just love how these people function, like everything is normal and nothing is wrong."

His loving stare turned into understanding. "It makes you miss home doesn't it?" I nodded, feeling transparent. He intertwined his fingers with mine. "That's alright, you know. We all miss our old lives, but we all like this one as well, even if some of us are only sticking around because of some weird guy with feathers in his hair," he smiled jokingly.

"Dagran?" I joked back. I swear he was about to hit me. That glare could have burned right through my head. I laughed. "I think I want to stay here, but at the same time, I know that will never happen, nor do I really want it to if the Count keeps up this game."

Yurick's face changed to hatred in a flash then quickly changed back into understanding and loving. "I agree." Just as he spoke, a cat jumped into his lap and started rubbing on his chest. "Oh, hello there," he pet it gently.

I smiled. "That's adorable," I reached out to pet the cat, but it hissed at me and tried to bite, "or not."

Yurick erupted into snickers and his face flooded with red. He kissed the cat on the head and, in between his attempt at stifling his laughter, he said, "I think we just found the one creature that _doesn't _like you. I want to keep him." I gave him a confused look. When his face finally flattened, he clarified for me, "Everyone we meet seems to love you. It's almost ridiculous. Sometimes I actually get really jealous."

"Really? Of what?" I stared at the cat with a glare as I tried to pet it again, but it hissed and jumped off of his lap.

"Of what? Are you really that blind? I'll start at the beginning then, shall I? Dagran found you and immediately decided that you were to travel together, Syrenne thinks of you almost like a little brother, Lowell thinks he should be your mentor and best friend, Mirania cares more about you than anyone else in the group, I love you, Count Aganon is obsessed with you for some reason, Jirall hates you so much it might as well be an infatuation, and Calista-," he cut off and I could see the anger in his eyes as he tried to continue speaking. "Let's just end it there. You're a very popular guy."

I kissed his hand, which was still holding mine, and spoke softly, "You don't have to worry about Calista, and Aganon can go stick his head in a Reptid cage. I've been avoiding him for almost a week." Just the thought of having to go back to the castle eventually was eating a hole in my stomach. That man was up to something, I just didn't know what the root was yet.

"Shouldn't you be going to the well today?" I wasn't that surprised that he wanted to change the subject, I did too, but I was surprised that he was asking if I was supposed to be going on a potentially dangerous task by myself. I nodded. "Good. Shall we go then?" I looked at him curiously as if to ask him why he was coming as well. "What? Do you really think I'd let you go alone?" He started walking towards one of the back alley ways. I shrugged and followed him.

When we got to the small area where the well was, we found two ladies doing some laundry and chatting about how there were more bubbles than usual. I tried not to laugh at how silly they sounded.

"Maybe the water's changed. It's become a bit salty," one of the ladies said. _That must be some nasty Reptid salt. _It was unnerving to think about people washing their clothes in _that_ sort of nasty water.

The ladies didn't even seem to care that two grown men were climbing down the well where they do their washing. That seemed a bit odd to me, but I guess the peacefulness of the town makes the people forget that things are weird.

Yurick had gone down first. When he reached the bottom he said, "Well, this is definitely a cave." I jumped off the later and looked around. Dank, slimy walls and just a low level of water. _How could people even get enough water from this to do their washing in the first place?_ "Who'd have thought we'd find something like this down here?"

"I wonder where it leads to," I squinted, trying to get my eyes to adjust.

"It looks like it must have been made by hand," Yurick ran his fingers along some of the rocks. "This isn't simple erosion."

We followed the tunnel through a few tight squeezes and came to a dead end. "Do you feel a draft coming through here?" I put my hand out to feel for the slight breeze coming through the cracks in the wall. I didn't wait for a response before I started kicking at the loose rocks. After the second kick, they fell through and made an opening.

"I knew he'd do that," Yurick whispered to himself. I smiled.

We ducked under the wall and came out at a giant room that looked like it held a stone maze. Or at least that's what it looked like when the walls were all broken and cracked. There were torches along the walls of the cave that lit the room quite well with the aid of the few holes in the ceiling. We walked forward slowly. If the cave was lit, then there had to be someone here to light it.

Yurick motioned to me to be quiet as we snuck towards the edge of the maze. We knelt down behind one of the half walls and peaked over the edge. Nothing.

"I must say, it's quite the underground kingdom they've got here." We both jumped at the head between ours.

"Damn it, Lowell! How did I not sense you?!" Yurick put a hand to his chest and tried to breathe.

Lowell just smiled. He must have meant to hide his presence somehow. I wasn't a mage so I had no idea how to do that.

Once Yurick had gotten his heart rate back to normal, he muttered, mostly to himself, "So I guess all those times we've seen Reptids just appear…," he looked towards the end of the cave.

"Yup, this place explains how they get absolutely everywhere," Lowell stood next to Syrenne.

"Why are you two here?" I asked. "And where's Dagran?"

Syrenne sighed, "He went off to do something or other, not that I care. We were bored so we figured we'd join you. Saw you climbin' down the well like a couple of weirdos so we followed you."

"Also like a couple of weirdos," I added with a smile.

She shrugged and pointed lazily to Lowell, "He's the weird one. We ladies are more graceful at such things."

Lowell laughed. "Graceful? The only thing 'bout you that's graceful, Syrenne, is how you _gracefully_ down your drinks like a man." Before he could continue, he was on the floor holding his nose, Syrenne standing over him with her arms crossed and chin held high.

The sound of him falling and his sword hitting the ground echoed throughout the cave and drew my attention to a Reptid attempting to hide behind a broken pillar. "There they are! Come back here!" I jumped the wall and chased after it.

"You idiot! Come back here!" Yurick yelled behind me. "This place is crawling with them!"

As I ran I noticed exactly where I was. There were about 15 archers behind me and about 20 fighters in front of me. I was stuck.

"I can't believe he's fallen into a Reptid trap," I heard Syrenne from across the cave. "That's like something Dagran would do. I thought he was smarter than that!"

"It isn't like him to be so impatient," Lowell said coolly.

"He's surrounded! What are we supposed to do?" Yurick was running along the edge of the maze trying to see away around the stupid trap I had run into.

"Oh, come on. We can make handbags out of these things. Let's just get 'em!" Syrenne was planning on just charging in after me. That probably wasn't the best idea, but it was one of our only options.

"Hold on there, Syrenne!" Lowell shouted after her. "If you just rush in there, you'll end up just like him. Look behind him!" He pointed to the squad of archers behind me, ready to shoot. I quickly ran and hid behind a broken piece of wall.

"Ugh! Healers...," Syrenne said.

_Healers? I'm even more screwed. Why did I run in here?_ Their voices were farther away and harder to hear, but I needed to know what their plan was, so I strained to hear them.

"If we attack through this path, we can hit them where they're at their weakest," Lowell strategized. He was a pretty good leader, but his personality off, and sometimes on, the battlefield made him seem like a drunken skirt chaser.

"Sounds like a plan," she agreed.

"It is a plan. More of one than you had," Lowell joked.

"Shut up, you two. No time for that," Yurick interrupted.

I didn't hear any more from them. I peeked out from behind the wall as a sword came crashing down a foot from my face. _Oh shit!_ I jumped up and kicked the swordsman then ran and hid behind another wall. I pulled out my crossbow and tried to get a good shot at the archers. I took out three of them before their attention was drawn to my location. I jumped up again and charged into the group of swordsmen and healers with my sword. I took out about five before the others met up with me and started taking out the sorcerers. I pushed my way through to a part of the maze that had a rusted rod iron gate. I took out a few more of the archers when I had the clearance to do so, but in the middle of a shot, the gate opened. I spun around quickly and dodged the _troll_ that had just come rushing through and barely missed the two dozen swordsmen that had come running in after it. _I'm so glad these things are stupid. It's like they didn't even see me._

I rushed in behind them when the last few ran passed me and started knocking them down from the back. _Avoid the troll, avoid the troll. _My last troll encounter wasn't a good one. Once I had gotten rid of half of the new reinforcements, I went to help the others, even though I was sure they could take care of themselves. I was just worried. As I ran towards them, a few Repids ran towards me, one of which was a sorcerer. A few sword slashes took out the first two, but as I charged the sorcerer he finished casting his circle, so I ducked behind a pillar to find an archer standing between me and the troll. _Oh shit. _

"GOD DAMN IT!" I yelled as I slid against the wall to the floor. Before my sword had hit the archer, the arrow had hit my shoulder. I pushed my thumb into my shoulder, just below the hole and the end of the arrow. I made a lot of grunting and groaning sounds then, after I had sort of gotten used to the pain, I looked around at my friends attacking the last few Reptids before tackling the troll.

"Lowell, look out!" Syrenne yelled. My head jerked into his direction as two Reptids occupied his sword and a third came from behind. He wasn't going to be able to spin fast enough. I lifted my crossbow with my good arm and fired. I have no idea if it hit or not. My vision went blurry and my arm fell. _Oh shit. Poison._


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20 - Y**

"Zael, you ass. Wake up!" I checked his pulse. "Come on, I know you're not dead."

"If you keep shaking him he might just keel over," Lowell kneeled next to me after helping Syrenne up. She had been knocked down pretty hard by that troll, but the three of us handled it pretty well.

I could have cried, but I was trying so hard not to. "Zael, god damn it," I could feel my eyes swelling.

"Look at that," Syrenne pointed to his hand. The little cross that had appeared on his skin when he first got this weird power thing started glowing blue. "Does that mean he's alive or what?"

"I'm not quite sure," Lowell shrugged. "That's still a new topic to me."

"He's alive! I know it," I checked his pulse again just to be sure.

"Yurick, he's been hurt so many times. An arrow to the chest isn't going to knock him off," Syrenne put a hand on my shoulder, but I threw it off with a violent shrug.

I grabbed his hand and held it to my forehead. One tear managed to escape and ran down one of his fingers.

"Stop that." I couldn't have looked up any quicker without breaking my neck. He coughed. I squeezed his hand after his thumb rubbed against my cheek.

"Oh thank God," I whispered with a breath of relief.

"Zael, feelin' alright there, mate?" Lowell extended a hand to him, but I wasn't sure if it was for comfort or to help him up.

After a few grunts and an attempt to sit up, he said through grinding teeth, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit loopy." He put a hand to his head. "Wasn't this this toxic?" he muttered under his breath, but I was close enough to hear it.

"Shouldn't we take it out?" I stared at the feathered stick jutting out from my Zael's shoulder.

"Probably," Lowell shrugged, "but we don't have Mirania or anything to bandage him with."

"No, he's right," Zael pulled his arm out of his sleeve and twisted it until it was a tight ball of fabric. "Syrenne, can you pull it for me?"

"I can, but I'll have to break it first. You sure you still want it out?" He nodded and she shrugged in return. I backed up to make room for her, but didn't let go of his limp hand. Zael put his twisted sleeve in his mouth and nodded again. She pushed him forward off of the wall and winced when she saw the head sticking out through his shoulder blade.

"On three," she grabbed the tip. "One, Two-." She jerked her arm and Zael let out a muffled scream. I kissed his hand.

It took him a minute to get his breathing back under control. Then he nodded again and Syrenne pulled the rest of it out by the end. He muffled another groan then spit his sleeve out.

"Okay, help me up," he took Lowell's hand and tried to stand, but could barely even pull his back off the pillar. I sighed and switched to his other side, throwing his arm over my shoulder, and pulled him off of the ground, but he wouldn't lean on me.

What was he thinking? Trying to stand after being shot by a poison arrow. What a dimwit. I wanted to help support him, but he wouldn't let me. _I swear…_

"Well, if you think you can make it, then alright. Let's go," Lowell started looking around for a good path.

"You can't be serious?!" There was no way I'd let Zael keep hurting himself. He may act tough, but I know him all too well.

Zael shook his head. "I'm fine. Let's just get moving," he seemed light headed. I could imagine. He left a lot of blood on the floor.

After a few forced looks and some major disagreement on my side, we headed over to the gate that all of the Reptid reinforcements had come through.

"What ya think's on the other side?" Syrenne tried to look through the gate, but it wasn't a very good view.

I responded bluntly, "Reptids. They're everywhere."

Lowell opened the gate and he and Syrenne rushed through and started taking out some of those scaly bastards. Again, I tried to help out with Zael, but he's just too stubborn.

"Okay, fine, but if you collapse-," I started.

"Don't worry. Just go help them. I'm going to try to be more of a distant help for a minute," he pulled out his crossbow and propped it up on one of the broken columns.

I nodded and ran to the others. I have never known a sharp shooter better than Zael, so I trusted him up there. There was an explosion a few walls away from where Lowell was.

"OI! Watch where you're shootin' at!"

"Wasn't me!" Zael yelled back. "Watch out for mines!"

"Mines?! Are you serious?" he knocked out all of his close enemies than stood closer to me to do a few castings. Together we knocked out the rest of them and a few of the mines that were blocking our next path.

"All good. You can come down now, love," Syrenne called to him. Zael nodded and worked his way over to us. "What's this?" he picked up something on the floor. "Bone pieces?"

There were two more Reptids blocking the door at the end of the path. Syrenne took them out swiftly and with ease.

"That statue, is it some kind of God?" Zael looked at the strange Raptor like statue in the middle of the giant room.

"Maybe the Reptids worship it," I suggested.

"Well, it is big," Lowell chimed in.

Zael ran his hand along the face of the Raptor. "Look here," he put whatever it was that he found on the floor next to the mouth. "They're fangs."

"Perfect fit," Syrenne said as the statue slowly moved itself out of the way.

"Well would you look at that. Stairs...," I said like it wasn't already pretty obvious.

"Down we go," Lowell smiled and started down them.

Syrenne followed close behind him and I followed Zael.

"Woah! Look at all this… Treasure!" Syrenne was like a pirate sometimes.

I looked around and saw some of the markings on the walls and columns. "Are these Gurak markings?" I was like a scholar that had just come across an important find. "I've never seen any like this before!" I ran my hand along the walls. "It's like a museum!"

"Oh, shit, another one," Syrenne pointed to a giant Reptid on the other side of yet another gate. "Bet you could shoot 'em with your crossbow through here, Zael."

Sure enough, my love had the precision of a hawk, even with one arm, and it only took a few shots to take the thing down. Lowell and I had to lift the gate high enough for Zael and Syrenne to get through, then quickly not drop it on ourselves.

Syrenne stuffed her pockets as we walked around. I guess gold is all that really matters to people now days. I laughed.

Lowell opened yet another door and we journeyed farther into the catacombs. The next room was almost like a ball room. The flooring was an old gorgeous tile that would have looked better if it had been taken care of instead of left to crack and rot. The columns were huge and there were two statues on the far side of the room that almost resembled dragons.

"Just look at this place. Could you imagine what it looked like before it was torn up and run down?" I was gawking at everything.

"Watch out, we've got ourselves an up and coming archeologist over here," Syrenne teased.

Truth be told, I love history and old buildings so I had thought about it, but after my father went missing, I had pretty much given up on everything that I wanted and become a mercenary. This was the last thing on my list of future occupations.

"It's incredible that these columns are even still intact. All of the other's that we've seen are completely destroyed."

"Remember, we're just passing through, unless you want us to leave you here," Lowell found yet another set of stairs, only going up this time.

I followed the group to the base of what looked like endless spiral stairs.

"I have a bad feeling 'bout this one. I'm shedding pounds just looking at 'em," Syrenne sighed.

"Oh come on, there just stairs," he stepped forward. "One, two, three, four," he started.

After what seemed like half an hour, we were still climbing stairs. It was exhausting. "Just stairs, eh? Bet you lost count, didn't you?" I sighed. "I didn't… 3595, 3596, 3597…"

"Yeah, I'm not movin'. I think I'll just live here," Lowell sat down.

"You always have the best ideas," Syrenne joined him.

Zael looked terrible. He was so pale and he was hanging onto the walls with every few steps. He sat down and mumbled something. I joined him.

"What?"

"I said, I can't - keep going like this," he was breathing pretty heavily. "How much farther to these things go up?"

Lowell stood up, "Yurick, if you can see how many of these bloody things are left, I can carry him up," he paused, "unless we're only half way there. I don't think I can take another 3 thousand some steps."

I nodded and ran up a little bit. They followed slowly, the nearly unconscious Zael on Lowell's back.

It wasn't more than another 746 steps when we finally reached the top and came out somewhere in town. It was still midday and the sun was too warm and bright for my tastes. Ironically, I'm a fire mage that loves the cold.

We got back to the tavern and scared Mirania half to death when we showed up with Zael completely blacked out and more pale than a ghost. We laid him on his bed and let our healer do her magic. It didn't take long to heal his physical injuries, but the poison was already coursing through whatever blood he had left.

"Could he really not take a simple arrow to the chest? I thought I taught him better than that," Dagran half smiled as he slouched onto a stool.

I couldn't stand it. I ended up shouting, "It was your crappy teachings that got him into this mess in the first place! If you weren't showing him that it's okay to be impulsive and rash then he wouldn't have gone rushing in and gotten caught in a trap. Not to mention, he thought he was being 'strong' by refusing to let me help by at least wrapping it, so he has been losing blood this whole time in decent amounts." I didn't breathe until the end, but my glare held.

"That's true," Mirania said softly. "That's why it will take a little longer for him to heal, because he's lacking the blood he needs in order to heal at a regular pace."

"He'll be fine. That one's pretty resilient," Lowell sat next to Syrenne at the table under the stairs. "My wager, he'll be up and about tomorrow."

I glared at Dagran. "For your sake, I hope so," I turned stiffly and started up the stairs.

"When did this become my fault?" I heard him say.

"'Ere, just have a drink," Syrenne was pretending that she wasn't worried, but I know she thought of Zael as if he were her little brother. Same with Mirania. She was the mothering best friend of the group and more like a sister to me than anyone ever could be.

I peeked into the room, hoping he was awake, but no such luck. He still looked dead. I silently closed the door behind me, sat on the edge of my bed, and looked him over. Just the fact that he was breathing was enough to make me relieved. I put my hand on his head to see if he had warmed up any. He was colder than I was.

"You're a fool, you know. If you had just let me help… maybe it wouldn't be this bad," I caressed his cheek. _Maybe I can help him now, if I concentrate… _I cast a small spell in my head to send heat to my hands then tried to warm his face and neck. I had to keep my focus or I'd lose the control and probably burn him. He looked gorgeous, for a dead guy. "When you wake up, you'd better pay me back for this," I couldn't resist. I leaned down and kissed his ice cold lips. This was going to take a while…

I looked around and pulled the chair from the corner of the room over to me. I sat down and slid my hand under the blanket and up his shirt to warm his torso, keeping my other hand on his forehead. I sighed and closed my eyes for a few minutes.


End file.
